As The Cold Wind Blows
by BehindTheCorner
Summary: Charlotte was part of a group, a group that were becoming the same monsters as the walkers. She got out of it before it was too late, but the incident following still plagued her to this very day. She runs across Clementine and Christa by the river and the three stood by each other, until the bandits came and ruined them as the cold wind blows through the forest. OC/Luke
1. New Faces

_**This is the first TWDG fanfiction that I've wrote, but hopefully it won't be the last ;)**_

_**I don't own TWDG, but I do own Charlotte.**_

* * *

"_Char, come on!"_

"_No."_

"_What do you mean 'no'?"_

"_I'm not doing this anymore, we are becoming one of __**them**__."_

"_This isn't a choice Char, if you leave then you die!"_

"_I'll take my chances..."_

"_Don't do this Char!"_

"_John? What are you-?"_

"_You can't leave us, not after everything we've been through!"_

"_John, put the gun down!"_

"_John?!"_

"_Stay out if this Liz! I'm not letting you leave!"_

"_John, you can't keep me-!"_

The all too familiar sound of a gunshot rang through the air. Convulsions squirmed through Charlotte's body as she quickly sat up, her dull blue eyes widened in fear as a scream ripped through her mouth. "Liz!"

She then paused. She looked around and took in her surroundings, her chest spazzed with fear that slowly died out, and her once terrified eyes calmed to her normal stoic look. She stared at her hands –still shaking- and sighed softly. "Liz..."

It had been a year since then. A year since she left her group that moved around, terrorizing people for supplies.

A year since Liz died by John's gun.

Her hands gripped onto her sleeping bag and she tried to hold back a sob, but quickly failed as she made a sound that was similar to whining dog, tears soaking her cheeks and the fabric of her sheets. Eventually, her whole room broke out into a chorus of sorrow as she couldn't hold back the noises anymore, and her whining turned into full out sobbing. She brought her hands to her face and proceeded to wipe the tears from her cheeks and eyes, her hands feeling the familiar sensation of wetness.

With her crying under control, she looked out of the window and saw the sun peeking out from the large expanse of mountains, bathing the pine trees in a shallow light. It was time to move on, to go out and to survive one more day on her own. No group to rely on and no one for a shoulder to cry on.

She freed herself from the confines of her sleeping bag; before rolling it up and tucking it away into her backpack, slinging the heavy thing over her shoulder. She then felt the assuring presence of the gun that was securely tucked away in the back pocket of her trousers. One of her hands reached up behind her neck and felt for the feeling of fabric of her hoodie, pulling it over her head once she managed to grasp it.

"Time to move out," she mumbled. "We're burning daylight."

The door opened to the sight of the endless pine forest, trees looming over her and the abandoned shack she holed herself in for the night, their branches covering the early sunlight almost completely and shrouding the ground in darkness. Still, she could hear the bone-chilling groans of the dead corpses that walked their earth. For safety, she grabbed her pistol from the confines of her back pocket and moved it in her sights, managing to calm her even a little.

She pulled a bandana that was wrapped around her slim neck over the lower part of her face and moved out, leaving the shack and memories of the nightmare behind her.

The walk through the forest was long and tiring, the path Charlotte followed being blocked by walkers at one point; forcing her to move through the bushes and the trees. However, the sound of the river flowing close by gave her hope for something to drink and wash her face in, which was covered in dirt and blood from the day's encounters.

She made a final push through the bushes into the clearing, moving out like a cautious deer; alert to any sudden movements or sounds that meant danger. She continued like this until she reached the river, and then she finally knelt down and removed the filthy bandana from her face, feeling grateful for the removal of the smell.

The soft breeze caressed her pale flesh as her hood fell back down to her shoulders, resting there as she brought a cupped handful of water to her face, rinsing the dirt off quickly before looking around. No rustling of bushes and any moans or groans from the walkers, or the cocking of a gun aimed at her head. She gripped onto the bandana as if afraid that she would lose it, rinsing the worn and torn fabric in the clear water of the river, pulling it out and shaking it free of any excess water.

Before she was able to wrap the fabric back around her face, she heard the bushes behind her rustling and quickly stood up, her pistol ready in her hand and her eyes narrowed. What she saw though made her raise her eyebrows in surprise, for coming out of the bushes was a woman and a child; looking no older than eleven.

The woman had a rifle in her hands and a scowl on her face. "What do you want?"

"The river is free to everyone," Charlotte snapped. "I ain't here to cause trouble."

"That's a first."

Charlotte moved further away from the two and along the bank of the river, making sure she didn't slip and fall in. "Look, just enjoy the river and I'll leave you alone."

"How can we trust you?" The little girl spoke up, surprising Charlotte with her bold words. "How do we know you'll keep your word?"

"Do I look like I'm starting a fucking fight!?" Charlotte snarled, creating more distance between her and the two. Once she deemed the distance suitable, she lowered her pistol and watched the two carefully as she wrapped the bandana around her face, pulling her hood up to further cast her face in shadows. "Look," she started, trying to adopt a softer tone but failing. "Just carry on survivin', God knows time isn't going to get be-"

She was cut off by the moans that made the three freeze in fear, the primal instinct to run nagging in the back of her mind as she and the other two slowly looked into the dense vegetation of the forest. Few of the walkers stumbled out, but more quickly followed as if wolves that were drawn to an easy kill.

"Shit!" Charlotte cursed, aiming her pistol at them. She fired at one that got too close for comfort, and jumped back when they started closing in, her foot slipping on the wet banks of the river. She landed in the freezing cold water and felt her gun slip out of her hand. She looked at her empty hand and then the walkers moving closer, snapping back from her shock at the sound of gunfire, seeing the woman protecting the little girl from a walker.

She growled and searched for her pistol, her hands scrambling over the wet rocks and other debris in search for the feeling of metal. Her slim fingers finally grasped around something and she wrenched it out of the river, her found gun shining in the midday sun. As she aimed at the walkers, she saw one right in her face and screamed in sheer fear, kicking it away and scrambled across the river bed, the walker recovering and quickly following after her.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" she cried out, aiming the gun at it. "Go away!"

She hastily pulled the trigger and a bang rang in her ears, the dead corpse finally staying dead as it slumped into the water, staining it a murky red colour that didn't even resemble blood. Stumbling to her feet, Charlotte backed away as the other walkers slowly followed, looking over to where the woman and child still stood. A walker was wrestling with the woman and the child was too busy dealing with its dead, legless comrade.

Pistol in hand, Charlotte quietly cursed to herself and outflanked the walkers coming at her, running up to the woman and child. She aimed the pistol and fired, the squelching of the metal bullet hitting rotten flesh made her stomach slightly turn in disgust, and she watched as the truly dead walker slumped to the ground. The woman looked at it in shock, then at Charlotte in shock before finishing off the walker that the little girl was fighting.

With the legless walker bleeding in a pool of its discoloured blood, the three turned on their heel and ran back into the safety of the thicket, like deer that had been startled by a predator or hunter. Feet pounded against the vegetation-covered ground and bushes quickly disturbed by them running through, crows cawing their annoyance as they flew away in search of some place safer. Lucky crows.

They finally stopped; panting hard and looking around them in case the walkers somehow managed to track them. Once deeming it safe, Charlotte gasped from behind her bandana. "Are you two alright?"

The woman ceased her gasping and stood up straight, looking less angry and more frustrated. "You didn't have to shoot that walker back there."

"Is that a thank you?" Charlotte asked bitterly. "I accept it."

The little girl stared at her from behind her baseball cap –bloodstained Charlotte noted- and then nodded softly. "Are... Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" she replied, before realizing the close encounter that she had with one of the walkers in the river. "Oh yeah, that wasn't the first time a walker came up close and personal with me. I prefer my personal space ya know."

The three fell in awkward silence. Charlotte continued to study the little girl from underneath her hood, feeling somewhat pity for the poor creature; having to grow up in this fucked up world mustn't be easy.

"I'm Charlotte by the way," she finally spoke. "May I be honoured with your names?"

The little girl stared at Charlotte for a second, as if studying whether to trust her or not, before looking away once more. "Clementine."

"I'm Christa," the woman added. "Where's your group?"

Grief flashed across Charlotte's face quickly before dying back down; reverting to the stoic gaze she normally looked like. "I'm just by myself," she shrugged. "My group... they weren't for me."

"Oh," Christa grunts, her tone sounded disappointed. "The same for us."

Clementine watched the two women awkwardly converse, before scratching her arm out of habit. "Will you be coming with us then? You know, considering you saved us."

"I wouldn't say she _saved_ us Clem."

Charlotte glared at Christa and then gazed upon Clementine, shocked to see a little of Liz hidden in those amber eyes. She knelt down so she was eye-level with Clementine and shrugged.

"It depends," she started, looking over at Christa. "If your mother allows me."

Shoulders hunched together as Christa glared at Charlotte, and then stared at Clementine with a softer tone. "You can travel with us," she started, but then moved closer to Charlotte and whispered. "I'm not Clementine's mother, just so you know."

Eyebrows raised, she bit down on her tongue to stop herself from making a snarky remark and instead shrugged. "Noted."

* * *

_**So what do you think? Good? Bad? Neutral? Review and tell me what's what.**_


	2. Family Before Myself

_**Wow, I came back from school today and found four reviews already. Thanks guys this put a smile on my face!**_

_**Darryl: I can see where you're coming from but I didn't want Christa to be nice or trusting to Charlotte straight off the bat. The reason I made Christa like Rebecca because that's how I saw her when you first meet her as Lee, she wasn't all optimistic like Omid. When Charlotte meets her, Christa lost Omid and her unborn baby, and the only thing she has left that she cares about is Clementine. I appreciate your review though; as I'm trying to lighten Christa's tone this chapter :)**_

_**AComeau18: Neither can I! Luke should be making his debut either the very end of this chapter or the beginning of the next.**_

_**Klondike24680: Thanks so much for your kind review! I'll definitely continue knowing people like you are for this story!**_

_**Guest: Thanks for your kind words! :3**_

The cold winds blew through the pine trees, the rustling of leaves as they were disturbed loomed in the heavy air. Crows cawed in an almost mocking tone to the walkers below as they perched in their haven, high above out of the reach of the walking corpses. Charlotte lay crouched in the dense thicket of the forest, her eyes shining dangerously from underneath her hood, pistol clenched tightly in her hand.

In front of her was some sort of weasel, its narrow snout sniffing the air cautiously before returning to what it was looking for, never seeing the grown woman hunting after it for the past hour. She laid low to the vegetation-covered ground, eyes forward and shoulders hunched like an agile cat. The weasel turned its head away from her to look at something that's caught its attention; and she took her chance.

The poor creature squirmed greatly as starved hands gripped into its fur and flesh, the butt of the pistol quickly silencing the terrified wails, the dead weasel going limp in her arms. She stared at it for a few seconds before finally realising what she had done.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Clem and Christa need to eat."

Slinging the carcass over her shoulder, she slunk back into the thicket and turned on her heel, walking back the way she came. Rogue leaves brushed against her legs as she pushed through, exhaustion soon settling in once the adrenaline died down in her veins. The smell of blood hung in her bandana, the worn fabric stained slightly in the rich red liquid. She tore the bandana from her face and stuffed it into the pocket of her hoodie, her gun resting in the other.

Soon the cawing of the crows dissipated into the surroundings, and the sky started to mix into a painting of orange, pink, red and yellow. Charlotte looked up at the sky and then around to survey her surroundings, mumbling under her breath. "Not far to go…"

She made the final push to finish the journey, her worn feet dragging tiredly across the ground, the carcass still slung over her shoulder like she was just some butcher, blood-stained apron instead of her hoodie. Rain began to fall slowly against her head, some dripping off the pointed leaves of the pine tree looming above her, forming small puddles around her feet.

She stalked into the small opening in the middle of the forest, the fire in the middle soaked and alight slightly, the small flames barely visible amongst the wet wooden logs. She spotted Christa frowning at it while Clementine sitting on a turned log, shivering in her thin purple T-shirt and pants. She was the first one to notice Charlotte walking over to them, happy to see her friend and more importantly food.

She stood up and smiled slightly. "What did you get?"

"I don't know," Charlotte grunted, lifting the weasel off her shoulder and inspecting it. "Looks like some sort of weasel."

"There isn't a lot of meat on it," Christa piped up, worry carried on her tone. "Not much for all of us."

Charlotte frowned and moved closer to Christa and the fire, jamming a long stick that the woman had collected and jabbed it through the creature, propping it above the cackling flames. "I actually thought you and Clem have the thing."

"Oh?" Christa replied, eyes rose in a surprised manner. "You're not eating?"

"I already found some food that will keep me going." A lie. There wasn't any other food out there, she was lucky to have found the stupid weasel.

"Well then," she mumbled, looking at the impaled weasel. "Thank you."

The tone wasn't bitter or snappish, like it would have been when Charlotte stayed for the first few days two months ago, it was grateful. She smiled at it and nodded, standing up and shuffling exhaustedly to the log, sitting next to Clementine and rubbed her eyes lazily.

Clementine looked up at her happily and frowned when Charlotte quickly looked away from her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she mumbled. "I'm just tired."

It wasn't nothing. It would never be nothing. Just looking at Clementine made Charlotte sick to her stomach. There was something hidden in those amber eyes –long lost of any child-like innocence- that resembled Liz, the fire hidden in the dead girl's eyes when the whole world went to shit. Charlotte thought she had gotten over Liz's death months ago, and yet Clementine only had to look at her and she felt her heart ache and her throat close up. It wasn't fair; yet again life wasn't fair anymore.

Clementine seemingly realized that it wasn't nothing and looked away, the hurt that she tried so desperately to hide sneaking through into her eyes.

_Poor kid, _Charlotte thought bitterly. _It's not her fault. It's no one's fault. Maybe it's mine though, and John's of course…_

Her hands clenched together angrily and she gritted her teeth together. _It's his fault!_

"This will never work…" Christa mumbled, snapping Charlotte out of her angered state. "The wood's too wet to burn."

Clementine stared at Christa and then looked around cautiously. "We shouldn't build a fire, it's too dangerous."

"We gotta Clem," Charlotte insisted. "You gotta eat and we need the fire to cook the weasel."

Christa nodded in agreement and went back to prodding the wood with a stick, turning and twisting the pieces of logs to see if the fire could burn better, before looking back up at Clementine. "To search for food, to build a fire, these are things that you need to learn Clementine otherwise…"

She trailed off and the two shared a pained look, Charlotte left out looking completely confused. Clementine then sighed. "Omid wanted to-"

"I know what Omid wanted to do."

"Omid?" Charlotte spoke up. "Who's Omid?"

The two looked at each other again before Clementine turned to Charlotte, pain and guilt flashing in her eyes. "Omid was my friend; we were resting in the toilets so I could wash myself and everything. I dropped my bottle and went to go get, but a girl came into the toilets after me and took my gun-"

"Clementine," Christa interrupted her. "Now is not the time for that."

She then stared at the smoke rising from the fire, and Charlotte could clearly see the agony hidden deep in her eyes. She then turned to Clementine who looked guilty; staring down at the ground with crossed arms. A cold wind blew through the trees and she shivered, Charlotte suppressing the urge to wrap her arms around the small child and instead handed her bandana. "It won't too much, but maybe your face could appreciate the warmth."

The small girl felt the fabric in her hands, before tying it around her neck. "Thanks."

"Don't lose it now you hear," Charlotte joked. "That has been with me through thick and thin."

_It was also Liz's… _She thought to herself, but held her tongue to prevent any questions being asked. Clementine smiled and nodded slowly, her amber eyes lighting up at the temporary gift. "I will."

Christa watched them from the fire and smiled slightly, standing up and looking around. "I'm going to get more wood," she explained. "Keep the fire going Clem."

She then turned and walked off into the crowd of trees, disappearing from Charlotte's sight quickly. She watched the spot where her friend had faded before lying along on the log, covering her face with the bulk of her arm. "I'm just catching a few, tracking that weasel worn me out."

Clementine frowned at the woman and then stood up. "You lied to Christa, didn't you?"

"What?"

"You never found any other food, that weasel was the only thing you could find in this forest," she explained, her tone neither upset nor angry. "Why did you lie about it?"

A groan crossed her lips as Charlotte sat up, looking at the girl with a serious expression. "I was raised up being taught that your family comes before you, and considering the circumstances you two are the closest thing I have to a family anymore."

She watched Clementine's expression shift to shock and then sympathy. "I feed you guys before I feed myself, which is how I live my life. Now however, I don't know whether I can be so 'noble' anymore…" she trailed off, her lips pulled down in a frown.

"I…" She heard Clementine start, but the words fell short off her tongue. "I didn't know. I'm sorry if I brought up any bad memories."

"Memories are always there Clem," Charlotte sighed. "It's just whether you chose to face it or not."

Clementine nodded at the words, as if saying a silent thank you, before she walked off to find wood that wasn't soaked by the rain. Charlotte watched as she rummaged about the clearing, her hands gripping the pieces she found with some authority, before she deemed it unsuitable and tossed the rubbish away. Finally Clementine returned with wood that looked good enough, dumping it in the pile with the others.

Charlotte shuffled closer to the end of the log and searched through the hole underneath her, pulling out Clementine's small backpack. "Here," she grunted, throwing the backpack to her. "I think there's a lighter in there."

She yawned and closed her eyes, listening to the small sounds of Clementine opening her bag and rummaging through it quickly, pulling out pieces of paper before finding the lighter. She then heard the tell-tale _click_ of the lighter coming to life, the small flame setting some newspaper that Clementine found alight, before being tossed into the dying flames. "Better," she heard Clementine mumble. "But not good enough."

Charlotte didn't bother listening to anymore of the sounds as she started to drift off, the soothing sound of the roaring fire soon echoing in her ears. They stayed like this for a few minutes, until distant shouting could be heard, quiet at first but then grew more prominent in just a few seconds.

Charlotte snapped her eyes open and lifted her head quickly. "What the fuck?"

Her and Clementine both shared a look –a look of fright- and quickly stood up, cautiously following the trail of sounds, leaving the camp behind. The feeling of her pistol as she drew it out of her pocket put some relief in Charlotte's mind as she nodded at Clementine; receiving another in response. She then looked ahead and brushed a branch out of her face, watching the scene unfold in front of them.

A man moved threateningly towards Christa and pushed her. "Where's your group?!"

She watched as Christa stumbled and then raised her hands defensively . "I-I'm by myself!"

_No,_ she thought desperately. _No, don't bullshit them Christa! They know about us!_

"Bullshit!" Another man spat, nearing Christa with a scowl. Their third friend, a black man in a hoodie, pulled a gun on her. "Cut the shit lady!"

Thoughts raced through Charlotte's head as she aimed the pistol at one of the men, but what of Christa? If she shoots then the woman dies, not to mention the walkers would be drawn to the loud sound. As she tried to think through the plan, Clementine was quicker and picked up a rock, throwing it at the men and yelled. "Christa, run!"

"Dammit Clem!" Charlotte growled, turning quick on her heel and ran back through the thicket, her hand gripped tightly around Clementine's arm. They ran quickly, the distant sound of a gunshot rang in Charlotte's ears as if it had been fired right next to her face, and she pushed forward. She could hear the thunderous crashing of water as they neared the small cliff that the river hung below of, both of them skidding to a stop as they panted for breath.

That was when she heard Clementine yell. "Charlotte!"

She felt shearing pain in the back of her skull and her knees gave up, the thud of her body colliding with the ground was dull and her vision blurred terribly, the sound of Clementine yelling and a male's voice shouting seemed distant to her.

_Clementine… _she thought softly, as she willed her arms to move. _I gotta save Clementine!_

She struggled pushing herself to her knees, and as she looked up she saw a blurred Clementine struggling in the arms of one of the men, his angered face something she could barely make out. "Kid, you are on my last fucking nerves!"

"Get the fuck off her!" Charlotte yelled, stumbling to her feet and rushing towards them. The man saw this and moved to dodge her, when his thumb was bitten by Clementine, her white teeth stained red with the blood squirting out. He howled in pain and through her away, clutching his thumb in pain and didn't intercept Charlotte ramming into him like a truck, sending both of them to the ground.

As they struggled, Charlotte looked over to where her gun was and then to Clementine on the floor. "Clem, the gun! Quick!"

She shook her head and then looked over to the gun, scrambling to her feet and grabbing the weapon quickly. Charlotte nodded and then kneed the man in the stomach, pulling herself free from his grip and fell back as Clementine fired the gun. The gunshot rang out loudly and was sure to attract any nearby walkers. Lifting her head, Charlotte looked at Clementine and saw the disbelief written on her youthful face, the gun looking so wrong in her small hands. She then lifted herself up and stumbled over to the man, who laid dead on the floor with a gunshot to the forehead.

She gasped softly as exhaustion took other her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she heard Clementine pant. "You're… bleeding."

Slowly, one of her hands reached for the back of her head and sure enough they came back red with her blood. She groaned in pain and then turned around, taking in her surroundings. "We gotta find Chri-"

She paused, frozen in place as she heard the tell-tale groans of the walkers, spotting a few silhouettes stumbling towards them. Clementine too spotted them and moved closer to Charlotte, gun raised in her hands as they moved backwards, their heels scratching the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, Charlotte's vision began to blur again and she could feel herself slowly slipping into unconsciousness.

"Clem, I…" She trailed off and fell backwards, dragging Clementine down into the raging waters below, her screams quickly silenced by the roar of the river.

_**So chapter two is out for you guys to enjoy, tell me what you like (or don't like) in the reviewing box right below this and I will see you next chapter!**_


	3. Dog Bite

_**I may have lied when I said that Luke would appear at the end of the last chapter or the very beginning of this one, but I didn't expect the one scene of the camp to last 2000 words! But he will appear in this chapter, though at the end.**_

_**I don't own TWDG, I only own Charlotte.**_

* * *

Consciousness returned to Clementine slowly, her vision clearing as she blinked a few times, staring at her hands that laid in front of her on the ground. She could feel her clothes, damp and cold, sticking to her skin grossly. She groaned and coughed, lifting her head slowly to see where the river had carried her and Charlotte. She suddenly remembered the incident that happened last night, amber eyes darting around the shores in search of her friend.

She stood up and her breathing quickened. "Charlotte!" she called out. "Charlotte, where are you?!"

A groan reached her ears, quiet but pained, and Clementine quickly moved towards it. She pushed through reeds that grew by the calmed river and saw Charlotte lying there, her eyes screwed shut as she groaned again.

"Shoot!" she growled, rushing to her friend's aid and checking her head, her fingers no longer coming back sticky with crimson blood. "Thank god..."

"Jesus Clem," Charlotte moaned, raising her head slowly and opened her eyes, wincing quickly as the light assaulted her sense of sight. "You trying to give me a headache?"

A small laugh escaped Clementine's mouth as she softly smiled, the feeling of the bandanna around her neck reminding her of Charlotte's kindness. "Can you walk?"

"I... I think so," she replied, stumbling to her feet and clutching her head again. "I could kill for an aspirin though."

She then looked down the river and then the bank they were washed upon. Clementine walked down along it, looking around for a way to get up the small cliff beside them. She spotted a ruined boat, half-beached on a jutting pole of wood, and sighed quietly to herself. Her eyes gazed over to a broken walkway above her, walking over to it slowly.

She then heard Charlotte come over. "We could get up there."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I can get up by myself."

"If you say so..." Charlotte shrugged, watching as Clementine leaped and gripped onto the walkway tightly, struggling to pull her thin body up. Chuckling to herself, Charlotte strolled over to the hanging Clementine and placed her hands underneath her trainers, pushing the small girl up quickly before jumping up herself. Her head throbbed in agony from the exertion and she clutched her forehead, waiting for the thudding to die down slightly before standing up.

"Ok," she mumbled. "Where to now?"

"We should look for Christa."

She winced at Christa being mentioned and looked away from Clementine for a moment, the man who ambushed them didn't have a gun on him, they weren't the targets they were aiming at.

_But Clementine doesn't need to know,_ she snapped at herself. _She can keep her hopes up._

"Yeah," she agreed, flashing Clementine a quick smile. "Let's go look for Christa, we shouldn't have floated long on that river."

She received a jerk of Clementine's head, almost like a nod but just fell short, and then the two walked down the path that cut through the forest. The pine trees gazed down at them as they cautiously stalked along the gravel path, eyes scanning every bush and trees for any signs that danger was close, the air eerily quiet as all wild life had gone from the earth. Hands dug through hoodie pockets as Charlotte growled quietly.

"Clem," she whispered, still watching out for walkers or bastards trying to rob them. "Have you got my gun?"

Amber eyes widened as Clementine realized the absence of the weapon. "I... I must have lost it in the river when you dragged me in."

"God-dammit!" Charlotte spat, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to stifle her headache. "We gotta be extra careful then, I still don't think I'm well enough to ward off walkers."

"We need help," she heard Clementine sigh. "You are obviously still injured."

Charlotte turned her head to the little girl and frowned deeply. "There is no one Clem. This world had made everyone fear each other, we're on our own. Don't trust anyone."

"You saved me though," she retorted. "You fed me and Christa before yourself."

"...That's different..."

"If you say so," Clementine's voice sounded bitter, as if she was sick of everyone treating her like some child who didn't know any better. Charlotte shook her head and the two fell into silence, only the sound of their feet truding against the gravel path could be heard. Suddenly crows burst from a nearby bush, their caws startling Charlotte and Clementine, the former standing in front of the latter protectively before realizing it was just crows. She scowled and hunched her shoulders in anger. "Stupid crows."

She turned to Clementine to see if she was alright, but found the child staring at something past her, following her stare to see a creature rummaging behind a few bushes. She held a hand in front of Clementine and moved forward quietly, her hand pushing the bushes to the side as she stared at the creature, ready for anything to jump at her. She found not a walker but a skinny dog, rummaging through the bushes likely looking for food, she relaxed a little and clicked her tongue. "Hello boy..."

The dog spun quickly and growled at the woman and approaching child, the former glaring at the dog and spoke calmly. "Hey, hey now. No."

The dog seemed to listen and sat down, its expression shifting from aggressive to plain curiosity. Charlotte too calmed a little and shifted her head, glancing at the collar wrapped around the dog's neck, reading the name engraved into the metal tag.

"Sam," she read aloud. "How you doing Sam?"

The dog barked in response and Clementine gave her friend a strange look. "Why are you talking to a dog?"

"I used to have one when I lived on the farm," she explained, holding her hand out for Sam to sniff. "I always talked to him."

"What was his name?"

"Jasper," she replied, her hand retreating back to her side when Sam finished sniffing it. "He died long before this whole thing went down."

Clementine didn't reply, but her face looked sympathetic slightly. "I had a hamster, it got out and ate a whole box of cookies."

Charlotte laughed at that and stood up, rubbing her stomach when it suddenly growled in want. "Speaking of food, how about we see where we can scrounge for some?"

Sam responded to the question by barking and running off through the bushes, leaving the two behind to follow it. Shrugging to Clementine, Charlotte quickly followed the dog with the child hot on her heels, pushing through the thicket in attempt to follow Sam. They saw him sitting a few feet in front of them, an abandoned campsite around him as he barked again. Rising a finger to her lips, Charlotte quieted the dog down and began to look around, moving over to the broken van.

Clementine watched her and then moved over to a demolished barbecue, groaning to herself when she found nothing.

"Fuck all," Charlotte snapped quietly from the van. "Nothing that we can eat in there."

Sam whined at that and then turned his head, trotting over to a tree and began to bark loudly at the base, causing the two to turn quickly. "Hush Sam!" Charlotte chided. "You'll attract walkers!"

Clementine walked over to Sam and her face grimaced, her eyes widening slightly as she took a step back. Charlotte felt worry gnaw at her stomach and quickly moved to her side, spotting the thing that Clementine saw and Sam was barking at. It was a walker, tied to the base of the tree with rope, and a knife embedded in its shoulder. As she looked closer at the shoulder and arm, she spotted a bite mark -most likely a walker bite- and sighed sadly. "Looks like he tried to cut it out..."

She heard Clementine mumble under her breath. "But that never works..."

She retreated from the snarling walker and looked around for something to put it out of its misery, gazing upon a heavy-looking branch resting behind her. She grabbed it and felt its weight briefly before nodding to herself, lifting it onto her shoulder and turned to Sam and Clementine. "Stay back guys."

Clementine nodded and moved back slightly, Sam following her lead and too moving back. Charlotte looked back at the walker and muttered under her breath, quickly bringing the branch onto the walker's head, the sound of the flesh squelching and the skull cracking deafening. She panted quietly and stared at the walker, it suddenly lashing out at her before receiving the same treatment, its movement ceasing as it stayed dead.

Charlotte panted loudly. "I think it's dead."

Clementine nodded in agreement and then moved closer, ripping the knife out of its shoulder, the body lurching and falling back against the rough trunk. She twirled the blade in her hand and then looked up at Charlotte. "Still sharp."

"You keep hold of it then," she concluded. "I'm not much use with knives."

Clementine placed the blade in her back pocket and went back to searching for food, rummaging through the bin by the barbecue, Charlotte watching the walker silently until she heard a gasp if delight. "Thank god."

"What did you find?" she asked, turning around to see Clementine standing there happily, a full can of beans in her small hands.

She smiled brightly. "A can!"

"Looks like a bean can..." Charlotte mumbled, taking the can off the child and inspecting it closely. "Open it and see what we got."

Strolling over to a overturned log, Clementine sat down and stared at the can, mumbling something under her breath as she brought the knife down onto the lid. The sound of ripping tin was loud in Charlotte's ears as she sat beside the young girl, watching the food slowly but surely being exposed to their hunger. Pushing the lid back to expose the contents fully, Clementine grinned and scooped some of the beans out in her hand, engulfing it greedily.

Charlotte stared hungrily at the can and then scooped some beans out for herself, eating it quickly before standing up. "I'm going to see if I can find anything else."

She walked over to the boxes near the van and rummaged through them, inspecting everything quickly before tossing them back into the box, all the while she could hear Clementine talking to the dog. "You're hungry too aren't you?"

She smiled at this and recalled Sunday evenings back home, how she would feed her scraps to Jasper without her father seeing. A snarl and Clementine's screams snapped her out of her thoughts quickly, Charlotte spinning around to see Clementine on the floor with Sam on top of her, his teeth sunk into her forearm.

"Get off her!" she yelled, rushing to Clementine's aid. The little girl managed to kick the dog off her and when he went to lunge for her again, Charlotte kicked him away and over the log, a yelp quickly silenced by the _shring _of metal meeting flesh. She froze as she listened to the growing sounds of Sam's whimpering and whining. She turned to Clementine and the two shared a look, before she picked up the knife and moved around the log, gasping quietly at the sight before her.

She quickly turned to Clementine and saw her getting up, stopping her from getting closer with a rise of her hand. "Don't. Stay there."

She then turned back to Sam, the poor animal impaled through the stomach and hind leg by the tent's poles, and knelt beside him.

"Rest in peace Sam..." she whispered, bringing the knife through his neck and pulled. The dog whined loudly and then quickly silenced, the body of Sam just lying there perfectly still. Sighing to herself, Charlotte stood back up and moved over to Clementine, studying her arm with a worried expression. "He got you good, what happened?"

"I-I tried to give him some of the beans and he tried to take the whole can, I snatched it from him and he attacked me," she explained, her guilty face looking over to where Sam was lying. "I never meant for this to happen."

"It's alright," Charlotte hushed soothingly. "The dog wouldn't have lasted long anyway, there isn't enough food for the poor thing. He's better off this way."

Clementine looked unsure of the statement but none the less, she nodded and rolled down the sleeve, wincing as the fabric turned a dull red. Charlotte shuffled the child closer to her and began to walk, grumbling to herself. "Now we _really _need help..."

They walked through the forest for an hour or so, before Clementine couldn't walk anymore and collapsed, Charlotte resorting to carrying her through the darkening trees. Exhaustion struck both of them as Charlotte's vision began to fade, her feet scrapping along the path as she forced herself to stay awake. Her head felt like it was being beaten in by a sledgehammer and she couldn't hear over the dull thudding in her ears.

She laid Clementine down and sat beside her, resting her head against the rock and allowed herself to fall unconscious. It wasn't for long though, as she felt Clementine shake her back into consciousness, her eyes slowly opening and the world around becoming clear. She gazed at Clementine's worried face and didn't ask anything, as the groans of the nearby walkers answered her questions.

She slowly pushed herself up and gasped. "We gotta go. Now!"

They trudged through the forest, the groans of the walkers growing nearer and nearer until one collapsed onto Clementine, trying to bite the young girl. Charlotte turned and moved to save the girl, but an arrow to the walker's head beat her to it, confusion descending over the both of them as they looked around. That was when Charlotte spotted two men running towards them, one an old man with dark facial hair and a graying scalp, whilst the other was a young man most probably in his early twenties, his brown hair falling in locks around his head.

The elderly man looked at his comrade and shouted. "I'm out, grab the girl and let's go!"

The young man nodded and picked Clementine up, the young girl looking at Charlotte as the two men followed her gaze, gesturing to Charlotte to quickly follow them. She had no choice and compelled, running away from the walkers and through the forest quickly. They ran until they couldn't no more, Charlotte feeling herself about to faint again as the young man carrying Clementine started to talk to her. "Hey kid, you alright?"

"I can walk." She grumbled, watching Charlotte as she spoke. The young man raised his eyebrows and smirked.

"After nearly being chomped by a walker?" he questioned knowingly. "No way kid, besides you look like-"

He stared at the wound on Clementine's arm and yelled in shock, dropping the young girl onto her injured arm. Charlotte was quick to act and moved to Clementine's side, checking the injury to see if it hadn't opened anymore. As she was doing so, the young man began to pace back and forth. "Oh fuck, she's bit!"

"No!" she coughed. "It's just a dog!"

"I didn't see no dog."

"There was!" Charlotte snapped, turning her head and glaring at the two men. "Did you really think we would keep a dog that attacked an eleven-year-old?!"

The older man seemed convinced by her sarcastic question and moved closer to Clementine. "Clementine," he started, gaining the girl's attention. "Are you telling the truth?"

"Yes."

It was something in her eyes that stood out in that instance, a small flicker that erupted into something much bigger. The older man nodded and stood back up. "Well alright then."

"What?" his comrade asked, his tone startled. "You're just going to believe her?"

"I have a good bullshit detector Luke," he replied, looking over at Luke. "That's why you never beat me at poker."

"You never..." he trailed off, his face flushed as he spotted Charlotte smirking at him. "Can we just go now Pete?"

Pete -with a smirk on his face- nodded and began walking down the path. Charlotte sighed and helped Clementine up, the small girl pushing her away once up and mumbled. "I can walk."

"You better," Luke spoke up. "Cause I ain't carrying you with that bite."

He regretted talking when Charlotte shot him a dirty look, slowly shaking her head before allowing Clementine to walk, staying close to her side like a loyal dog. However, as they neared the two men, Charlotte felt light-headed again and fell to her knees, Clementine quickly by her side trying to get her back to her feet.

She saw Luke run up to them. "Is she alright?"

"We got attacked by a man," Clementine explained. "She got hit in the head and isn't well."

"Damn, sounds like she got a concussion. We can have Carlos look at it." Pete offered.

Luke seemed confused though, as he turned to Charlotte as he helped her to her feet. "Why were you guys attacked?"

"Because the world's gone to shit," she growled, pushing away from Luke. "I can walk thank you."

"After what I just seen?" he scoffed. "I don't think you can make another few feet."

Cheeks turned red at that remark and Charlotte let out a low growl, but as she tried to prove him wrong, her legs gave in again. Luke however, was quick enough to make sure she didn't hit the ground. "Come on, let me help you."

She said nothing, but allowed Luke to help her walk the rest of the way to the cabin, keeping an eye out for Clementine and her bite.

_What will the other survivors think of the bite? _she asked herself. _I can't let anything happen to Clem, even if it means we have to leave if things get hairy._

She felt anxiety hit her hard in the gut, her stomach twisting and turning in worry for the upcoming events that we just at the bottom of the hill. Pete stopped and turned around to Clem, who Charlotte realized was behind them by a couple of feet. "You alright Clementine?"

"I'm fine," she grumbled. "Just tired."

She stopped suddenly and began to sway, Charlotte quick to release herself from Luke's grip and run to her, although she was already on the floor unconscious. "Shit!"

Pete appeared by her side and in one motion, scooped the small girl into his arms. "I'll carry her the rest of the way."

"Thank you," she smiled, grateful for his act of kindness. She walked after him and when Luke offered his help once more, she rejected him with a cold stare, the young man shrinking away as if a child that had just been scolded.

"It's not a walker bite ya know," she hissed at him, as they walked behind Pete for the rest of the way. "A dog really attacked her."

"I believe you," he sighed, crossing his arms tightly. "I just had to be sure, we... we lost someone helping a bite victim."

Her shoulders hunched at the mention of that and she felt grief hit her again, before pushing it back down. "I'm sorry for that."

The cabin was a few feet in front of them when Charlotte felt somewhat happiness, they had found other people who didn't want to put a bullet in their skull, Clementine might be able to get help for her arm and they can carry on in their search for Christa.

That happiness turned to dread when the other survivors came out of the house.

* * *

_**Another review, thank you so much guys this means the world for my story. And Luke did make his debute, finally!**_


	4. The Shed

_**Wow, another review! Thanks guys, these are what keeps me writing :D**_

_**hooray4natasha: Thanks so much for your two reviews; I am glad you like Charlotte and her story so much.**_

_**Now back to the story.**_

* * *

Charlotte stood there as the group argued amongst themselves, Clementine tightly secure and unconscious in her arms, she wouldn't let any of them near her. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she watched them cautiously, her shoulders hunched and her body bent; ready to run if the need to arose. She took Clementine away from Pete when his group piled from the cabin, and she was glad she did as soon as she laid eyes on a man no older than her, his dark haired mullet and blue eyes gave him a sense of attractiveness but the rifle in his hands were the only thing she was staring at.

She was still staring at it when she heard the black, pregnant woman snap. "They could be working for Carver!"

"Excuse me?" she glared, her grip on Clementine tightened. "A little girl and a woman as spies; oh yes I can definitely see where you're coming from!"

"Who are you talking to?!" the woman growled, moving forward when her husband held his arm out, looking at her with a slight frown to which the woman scowled. Charlotte scowled in response and then looked down at Clementine, the small girl shuffling in her arms as she began to awake from unconsciousness.

She looked at the group with pleading eyes. "Please, all I want is for my friend to get help for her dog bite and then we will go!"

"Where will you go?" Luke asked. Charlotte stared at the ground and sighed, before mumbling to the young man. "My friend was separated from us; we need to go find her..."

"And how do we know that it's a _dog _bite," the woman spoke up again, crossing her arms across her chest. "It could be from a walker and you could be lying!"

"What do you want, fucking CCTV footage?!" Charlotte spat. "I would have already shot her if it was a walker bite."

The woman looked unconvinced along with the man with the rifle, whereas her husband looked like he was convinced by Charlotte's reasoning. Clementine shuffled in her arms once more and she looked down with a startled look, amber eyes meeting blue as the little girl slowly awakened, looking around confusingly.

"Where are-" she was cut off by the sound of the rifle in the man's hands going off, the sound ringing in her and Charlotte's ears as the latter hugged the former harder, her face twisted in rage as she placed Clementine on the ground.

Making sure she was fine without her aid, Charlotte moved closer to the man and snapped. "You fucking idiot! You nearly hit her!"

"I thought she was going to rip your face off!" he shouted in her face, his eyes narrowed greatly. They glared at each other as Clementine watched on, confusion written on her face as she looked at Luke, who just shook his head and mumbled. "God-dammit Nick."

Suddenly, another man exited the cabin and stared at the chaos that was happening in the group, eyes on Clementine as he spoke. "What is going on?"

"We found these two being chased by walkers Carlos," Luke explained, gesturing to both Clementine and Charlotte. "We need you to look at the girl's arm, she's been bit by what she says was a dog."

Carlos nodded and descended the stairs, moving quickly to Clementine and kneeled before her, rolling her sleeve up to get a better look at the serious bite. Charlotte moved away from her glaring match with Nick and stalked back to Clementine's side, frowning when she winced slightly at the fabric touching torn flesh. Carlos studied the bite whilst Clementine looked at everyone else, finally glaring at Nick who returned the glare full heated.

She then looked at Charlotte with a look that made her heart ache; terror. She was terrified and yet only Charlotte could see it, she having to look away from the girl. Luke then asked. "Well? Was it a dog?"

"It's hard to tell but whatever it is," he analysed, looking Clementine in the face. "It got you good."

He then stood up and crossed his arms, appearing thoughtful as he thought about what to do with the bitten girl. "We will put you in the shed and see if it is a walker bite, if you're still alive tomorrow I'll treat it."

Eyes widened as both Clementine and Charlotte looked at each other, the younger facing the man and moved forward. "But my arm needs stitching and bandaging, it could get infected!"

"We have all the supplies inside," the woman's husband spoke up. "We could spare some-"

"Alvin, please!" his wife snapped. Alvin frowned and then shrugged, looking away as he spoke again. "Yeah, we can't do nothing."

Carlos shook his head and looked back at her, frowning as he spoke. "I'm not wasting supplies on a walker bite."

Charlotte stormed up to him and jabbed a finger into his chest. "For fuck's sake, it is _not a walker's bite!_"

He glared at her in distain before tearing himself away from the situation, Luke and Nick by the two's sides and escorting them to the decrepit shed off to the side of the cabin. Charlotte glared at both of them as she moved with Clementine, eyeing the bite mark with new-found worry. The little girl ignored her stares and turned to Luke, taking a sly look at the cabin before speaking. "You could get me supplies couldn't you? You know it's not a walker bite."

Luke looked down at her guiltily. "I would like too, believe me. But there is nothing I can do now, sorry..."

"You shouldn't have brought us here," Charlotte spat, her hands clenching together. "Clem is going to _die _if she doesn't get that arm treated."

Luke frowned deeply and shot her a look, his eyes quickly filled with anger. "Don't you think I know that?! I can't go against the group and I'm sorry that I wanted to get you two help!"

Silence drifted between them as the shed stood right in front of them, Luke opening the door with quick movements and the door slowly squeaking open, revealing the insides that were suddenly bathed in the sunlight. Clementine stared into it with uncertainty in her eyes, before walking in when Nick gestured with his rifle, Charlotte quickly by her side as they watched the doors being closed and the sound of them being locked hung heavily in the air.

A sigh escaped Charlotte's lips as she slowly sat down. "My head..."

"You should have told them about your injury," Clementine sighed, still clutching onto her arm as if it was going to fall off. "They would have treated you because you're not bit..."

"I ain't leaving you alone in a _shed _Clem," she grumbled bitterly, looking up at her with a stare full of malice. "And I ain't going to let you die from an infection that I can treat."

Confusion veiled over Clementine's face. "How?"

"This shed is old as fuck," she replied, a smirk playing at her lips. "That means there is a weak point where I can escape and infiltrate their cabin. You heard what that guy, Alvin or whatever his name was, said."

"There are supplies in their cabin, I heard."

A grin took over Charlotte's face as she chuckled. "Well they're gonna be a few supplies short when nightfall comes."

So they sat there and waited, Charlotte keeping an eye on Clementine's condition as she felt her head swarming and her vision blurring a couple of times, shaking her head to rid herself of the nausea and aches. They sat by each other with Clementine's head leaning against Charlotte's shoulder, both sitting there in complete silence as they listened for any noises outside. The room grew darker and darker as the sun rolled behind the mountains and pine trees, their shadows looming into the shed before disappearing as night settled in. The dark sky was blanketed with thick clouds as they rolled lazily through the sky, rain soon pouring down from the heavens and pelted against the ground.

Charlotte hadn't realized that she fell asleep until she opened her eyes, her hands shaking as she rubbed her face. Slowly and carefully, she moved her hands to her shoulder to remove Clementine's head, only then noticing the absence of the child and the sudden coldness of the shed, standing up as she looked around. "Clementine?"

There was no reply. Only the howling of the wind outside and the distant growls of walkers could be heard. Stumbling around, she looked for her friend to see if she took to a corner, or worst if the infection had already took over her young body. She could feel her heart speed up as she frantically searched the shed, finally spotting a small hole at the back that was big enough for Clementine to slip through.

_She's gone for the cabin! _She thought frantically, looking out of the window at the building in the rain. _What was she thinking?! I could have gone instead of her! What if they catch her? What if-?_

Her worried thoughts ceased when she heard a shuffling coming from the hole in the shed wall, immediately jumping to the fear that a walker could have crawled through it after hearing her stumbling around, moving closer with a brick in hand and raised above her head. Her eyes shifted from animalistic fear to relief as she sees Clementine shuffling back through into the shed, supplies tucked away in her back pockets.

She stood up and saw Charlotte still holding the brick. "I see you're awake."

Dropping the brick quickly, she pulled Clementine into a hug and released the breath that she didn't know she was holding. Her hands clasped onto the girl's shoulders as she stared sternly into her amber eyes. "Why did you go? I made it clear that I was going to go!"

"You were falling asleep and you don't look well," she explained, staring at Charlotte's pale face. "I'm sorry."

Charlotte bit her lip slightly and stood up, crossing her arms across her chest. "It doesn't matter... what does matter is that you're safe."

Nodding, Clementine moved past the elder woman and placed the supplies she gathered on the working bench, Charlotte grabbing the bottle of liquid and scanned the label. "Hydrogen Peroxide, fancy."

"I need that to disinfect my arm." Clementine explained, grabbing the bottle from Charlotte's hand. She frowned and stuck her tongue out at the little girl, not caring how childish she looked.

"I know what the stuff is used for," she huffed. "My dad used it on me when a coyote bit me."

"A coyote?"

"Oh, I guess I never told you..." she chuckled, rubbing her shoulder gently. "I grew up in Texas and my dad always took me hunting, considering my sister was too young and my two brothers were always too busy. They were good times."

She frowned when the memory of what happened to her family and her sister, before pushing the memories away and settling on what they were going to do to Clementine's wound. She watched as the girl unscrewed the bottle and took it away before she could pour any on her arm. "Whoa there, you ain't fixing your own arm while I'm here."

"I can do it myself."

"Yeah, don't think so." Clementine didn't respond as she watched Charlotte grab her arm, holding it in place before giving her a look that requested to continue. The small girl nodded and instantly jumped as fire burned through her arm, a scream of pain cut short by Charlotte's hand over her mouth and an apologetic stare. Swallowing dryly, Clementine gasped for air as Charlotte looked at the liquid in her arm, it fizzing to indicate infection. She reached over for the needle and wire before staring at Clementine in shock.

"Jesus Christ Clem," she gasped, holding the two objects in her hands with a flabbergasted look. "We're trying to sew up your arm, not catch some goddamn salmon!"

She closed her mouth as Clementine glared at her, her shoulders shaking in pain and her breathing abnormal. Charlotte muttered an apology and threaded the needle with the wire, grasping Clementine's arm once more and held the needle close to her torn flesh, giving the young girl a look that told her to prepare herself. Taking no more time with the procedure, Charlotte stabbed the needle through Clementine's skin and had to hold her own as she jumped back in pain, strangled screams coming from the child as she stared at the needle poking out of her wound.

Charlotte didn't speak any encouragement to Clementine, she had to hurry up and sew the arm up, besides the last thing Clementine looked like she wanted was someone whispering to her 'Oh you're doing fine sweet-cakes, you're such a big girl' when that wasn't going to help the situation. She gripped the needle and pulled it through, the thread sliding through easily. More muffled screams echoed in the shed as Clementine tried to fight back the tears, successfully blinking them back into her eyes.

This carried on until finally Charlotte bit the wire short and tied it together, admiring her handiwork quickly. "I should become a nurse."

"Can you please just bandage it _nurse_?" Clementine gasped; unamused that Charlotte was staring at her arm while she stood there. With a smirk on her face, she grabbed the bandages that remained on the bench and began to wrap Clementine's arm, only to accidently drop the roll onto the floor.

"Shit," she swore quietly and bent down to grab it. Just as she grabbed the roll, a walker that was attracted to Clementine's cries of pain crawled through the hole and grasped her leg, causing Charlotte to fall over onto her stomach. She twisted around and tried to kick the walker away, but it proved too strong and crawled on top of her, her arms pinning it in the air for the mean time.

She glanced at Clementine and yelled. "Clem, get this thing off me!"

The young girl frantically searched and spotted a rake, grabbing it and hooking the weapon under the walker's chin, pushing with all her might. The walker was pushed back off of Charlotte; however it quickly recovered and moved to bit her, only to be pushed back by the rake again. This time it fell into the anchor's point and was impaled through the stomach, its intestines spilling onto the floor alongside its discoloured blood.

Standing up, Charlotte watched on as Clementine began to bludgeon the walker in the head with a hammer she found, striking it four times before the walker just sat there finally dead. The both of them stared at it in silence, too shocked to see if they were alright; that was until they heard the door being unlocked. Turning around, they witnessed the door opening and the group looking in with shock, before seeing the two standing there exhausted and the walker impaled on the floor.

"What the hell happened?" Luke asked first, still staring at the scene in disbelief. Charlotte glanced over at the panting Clementine and saw the anger in her eyes, her eyebrows furrowed as she stalked forward.

"I'm. Still. Not. **Bitten.**" She snapped, looking at every single member of the group. "I never was, and you left me and my friend out here to die."

"Where did she get the supplies?" Nick growled, staring at the stitching in Clementine's arm. Rebecca too saw it and her face twisted in disgust, turning to the other members of her group. "Did she steal from us?"

"We had no _choice_!" Charlotte spoke up, her hands balling into tight fists. "She would have died if we didn't take them!"

Rebecca scowled at Charlotte and looked back at Clementine, seeing if there was any ounce of lies in her amber eyes, when she saw nothing she looked at Carlos. He wasn't looking at Clementine, but at Charlotte instead.

"Bring them inside," he ordered, turning back to head to the house. "I will treat you and your friend."

The two gratefully exited the shed and followed Carlos with the others, whilst Luke appeared by Clementine's side. "You hungry kid?"

She stared at him and then looked away, walking closer to Charlotte's side. She wrapped her arm around Clementine's shoulder and held her closer, glaring at Luke as they entered the cabin, the warmth a nice invitation compared to the coldness of the shed. Whilst Carlos, both Luke and Nick went into the kitchen with Charlotte and Clementine, the others held back and waited in the living room.

Candles lit the whole room in a welcoming ambiance; Charlotte gratefully sitting down and rubbing the bridge of her nose as another headache consumed her, the thudding in her skull making her feel like she was just hit with a sledgehammer. Clementine worryingly stared at her and then to Carlos, silently asking him to check her first. He obliged and kneeled lower in front of the woman, delicate fingers touching behind her head, tangling with blood-matted hair and made her wince in pain. He was in his zone as he worked in his head the extent of her injury, and how long it would take before the symptoms would cease.

He didn't spare Clementine a glance as he asked her. "So how did this happen?"

"We were attacked by robbers," she explained, frowning as she recalled the incident. "Charlotte dragged me away and we ended up cornered by a river. She was then hit in the back of the head with something."

"Well the skull hasn't fractured and the blood loss is only minor, it seems that the thing he hit her with wasn't very solid." He finished, removing his hands from Charlotte's head. "I suggest plenty of rest so your body can heal, no straining for another day or so and you should no longer have any symptoms."

"Thanks Doc," she mumbled quietly, touching the back of her head lightly and wincing. "Much appreciated."

Carlos nodded at her and then turned to check on Clementine's arm, studying the stitching that Charlotte did back in the shed. Luck watched on from the counter, his face betraying the worry he was feeling whilst staring at them. Nick however, was leaning against the wall with his thumb falling victim to his teeth. They all watched in awkward silence until Carlos finally stood up, Luke jumping at him for the answer.

"Well?" he asked, glancing at Clementine. "How is it Carlos?"

"The stitching needs some work," he began, hearing Charlotte make a displeased sound. "But she should be fine. It wasn't a walker bite like we feared, otherwise her fever would have set in by now."

Pushing himself from the wall, Nick stormed out of the room quickly without giving any a second glance, Charlotte glaring after him as he left. She then saw Luke follow after him and sighed, leaning her elbow against the table and propping her head up on her palm. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, listening to the quietness of the room and the pounding of her head receded, until she heard Carlos talking to Clementine. "I don't appreciate what you did."

"What?" she heard Clementine question, slowly opening her eyes again.

"Manipulating my daughter for the hydrogen peroxide," he frowned, turning to face her.

_He has a daughter? _Charlotte thought to herself, remaining silent to listen to the rest of the conversation. Clementine looked uncomfortable as she recalled the incident in the bedroom, where the fifteen year old girl caught her and she had to become 'best friends' with her. "I..."

"She is not like you," he continued, looking out of the window. "You might not understand at first but you will after a while. If she knew how bad the world has gotten, she would cease to function. She is my little girl and the only thing I have left, so I ask that you stay away from her."

Charlotte frowned at that and lifted her head, staring Carlos dead in the eye. "She needs to know."

"You do not know what she needs!" he snapped, moving closer to Charlotte. She remained unfazed as she slowly stood up, still remaining eye-contact with him.

"You're over-protecting her Doc," she snapped, cutting him off before he could interrupt her. "She needs to know how bad the world is so she can adapt, so she can survive! But I know what will happen if you continue to shelter her, and it is not a pretty thing!"

"How could you possibly-?"

"Because I did the exact same thing with my sister!" she growled, her teeth gritting together. "I tried to shelter her from the world I have witnessed because I didn't want her becoming like me, I didn't want her killing and not feeling bad about it anymore! And guess where that got me Doc? Here and her dead because she didn't know how to handle the situation I put us in!"

She paused, closing her eyes tightly as she recalled the incident with sorrow, before turning around and moving towards the door. She only stopped once reaching it and looked at Clementine, ignoring the Hispanic doctor beside her.

"I'm going to bed."

* * *

_**More info into Charlotte's past, and hopefully you guys can piece the jigsaw together~**_

_**Don't forget to review as it helps me out a lot, it doesn't take long and it makes me happy :D**_


	5. Where's Clementine?

_**I'm really sorry for the late update guys, true be told I was actually planning a novel that I wanted to write and I haven't even finished chapter 1!**_

_**Anon- I blushed when reading your comment, thank you so much! I wouldn't say mine is the best as there are close ones on this fandom, but I am grateful that you love this story that much!**_

_**Driftingawayfromreality- I'm excited to write about Charlotte and Luke, but I'm taking things slow between them :3**_

_**Hooray4natasha- I was actually thinking on how the game would go if Charlotte was a character, the game play would be the same except for different dialogue I think.**_

_**AComeau18- I've been practicing my writing so it's wonderful when someone compliments it!**_

_**Now back to the story!**_

* * *

Groans erupted from the sleepy form of Charlotte as she rubbed her eyes, blinking slowly to rid herself of the horrible sleep, her back screaming at her as she tried to move. The couch was not a wise place to sleep, she knows that, but there was literally nowhere but the shed for her to sleep. Memories of the night before plague her mind; Clementine coming in long after she stormed out, her youthful face staring at the grown woman before she hugged her. The young girl slept on the couch with Charlotte, feeling safer in her presence than in those of the cabin survivors.

However, Charlotte awakened to discover the girl gone. "Clementine?"

No reply. Slowly and painfully, she stood up from the couch and walked across the room, slamming the door open to find her friend. Instead, she found Luke leaning against the counter, his back to her as he stared out of the window. Hearing the sound of the door opening, he turned his head and smiled slightly. "I guess you're awake?"

"No I'm asleep on the couch," she replied sarcastically, entering the kitchen quickly. "Where's Clementine?"

"Out," Luke explained, turning around so his back was to the counter. "With Pete and Nick."

"Why is she with the idiot who almost shot her?!" Charlotte snapped, storming closer to Luke. "Why did she leave without me?"

Frowning deeply, Luke somehow remained cool in the face of the hot-headed woman. "Pete is with her so she's safe, and the reason you didn't go with her is because you're meant to be _resting_."

He put great empathise on resting; crossing his arms across his chest as he stared at Charlotte's angered face. Shaking her head, she spun a chair and slowly sat down. "Why is she with them?"

"Fishing," he shrugged. "Or at least that's what I think they're doing."

Silence fell over the two of them like a blanket, suffocating Charlotte and making her feel hot and bothered. Finally her voice, strong and with authority, shattered the fragile silence. "We're leaving tomorrow."

"I see..." Luke looked somewhat sad at the fact, which confused Charlotte greatly as she stared at him.

_Shouldn't he be relieved? He's getting rid of me and my big mouth,_ she thought to herself. _I'd hop on the bandwagon if I met someone like me. _

"You know," he started again, rubbing the back of his neck. "You could stay longer and we could help you search for your friend, you won't last long with just you and that little gir-"

"Clementine," she interrupted, staring straight into Luke's eyes. "Her name is Clementine."

A grin appeared on his face as he chuckled nervously. "Clementine, so what do you say?"

She thought for a second, weighing up her chances of surviving without them, which were pretty high considering she'd been doing it for a year before meeting Clementine and Christa. But what of Clementine? The girl was tough as nails but would Charlotte be able to protect her by herself? She barely saved her from a dog trying to kill her and a man trying to take her; maybe she could use a group for protection.

"I guess," she mumbled. "I'll consult it with Clem."

Luke smiled warmly at the sound of that, nodding as he spoke. "Alright then."

They fell into silence again, but this time it wasn't as awkward for Charlotte, who was too busy thinking about the future for her and Clementine. Would they be able to find Christa? Is she even still _alive_ as a matter of fact?

_No, _Charlotte mentally slapped herself. _Clementine still thinks she is alive, we gotta keep hope._

"So where are you from?" Luke suddenly asked. "You sound like you're not from these parts."

"Is anyone?" she scoffed, but none the less smiled. "Texas. I grew up on a farm there, happy and content."

"If you don't mind me asking-"

"What?"

Luke scratched his chin as he shrugged. "I was just going to ask how you met up with Clementine."

"I found her and Christa one day a few months back, I saved them from walkers and they saved me from isolation. I've remained by their sides ever since..."

"Did you have a group before them?"

Charlotte paused, her eyes looking down at the floor as her face looked grief-stricken. "I did, but it didn't work out."

"Oh, well then I'm sorry."

Blue eyes gazed upon his face as Charlotte frowned. "Don't be," she spat. "I wish painful death on them, I just..."

"What?" Luke pressed on, before shaking his head as if scorning himself. "Don't worry; you don't have to tell me..."

Charlotte stood up from the chair, staring at Luke with saddened eyes. "I just wish I could have saved my sister."

With that off her chest, she stepped out of the kitchen and allowed the door to close by itself, sitting back on the couch and hooking an arm over her eyes. Guilt hit her hard in the stomach and made her sigh loudly, her lips pressing into a thin line as she began to think to herself. The only logical method was to remain with the cabin survivors; she couldn't look after Clementine by herself whilst looking for Christa.

She was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by a young voice. "Are you alright?"

Her head jerked up as she turned to the source of the voice, her eyes widened slightly at the small fright. The voice belonged to a girl; seemingly older than Clementine by a few years and certainly taller. Her hair only reached her shoulders with red glasses sitting in front of dark eyes. The girl jumped back at Charlotte's sudden movement and raised her hands. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you."

"Well congratulations kid, you just did!" Charlotte frowned, before sighing to herself. "I'm fine, just tired."

"Well that's good," the girl smiled, moving closer to the grown woman. "I'm Sarah, I take it you're Charlotte?"

"Yes..." she replied, looking confusingly at Sarah. "How did you know?"

A smile lit up the teen girl's face. "Clementine told me, she promised me that we could be friends."

"Well that's nice," Charlotte shrugged, making herself more comfortable before continuing. "So I take it Doc is your dad?"

"Yes," Sarah agreed. "Though he doesn't want me talking to you, he says you're bad news."

Annoyance glazed over Charlotte's face as her eye twitched. "Did he now?"

Sarah's eyes widened slightly as she gasped. "I wasn't meant to tell you that, please don't tell my dad!"

A chuckle erupted in her throat as Charlotte nudged Sarah in the shoulder. "Secret's safe with me kid."

The teen smiled once more and then looked at the hallway leading to the front door, before walking into the kitchen, watched leaving by Charlotte. She shook her head and chuckled breathlessly, staring out of the window at the sun-bathed forest with a receding smile, it turning into a frown as she stood up. "God dammit Clem, you should have stayed here."

Anger formed in the pit of her stomach, her eyes narrowing at nothing in particular whilst her lips pressed against each other, her hand running through her dark hair gently to avoid pulling the blood-stained strands. She could use with a wash to get rid of the blood, if she slipped out would the others think she ran off?

If what Luke told her was true though, then Clementine would be near the river with Pete and Nick, she could keep an eye on them as well. She trusted Pete as much as you could trust a stranger, but Nick was on the other end of her trust meter, he already nearly shot Clementine and her once so what would stop him from doing it again? What if that time he didn't miss?

Deciding on going, she turned away from the window and quietly moved through the hallway, opening the front door as quietly as she could manage and slipped out unnoticed. The fresh air was greatly appreciated by her as she took in a deep breath, quickly walking down the stairs and followed the path that she knew led back to the river. The wind died down from last night and left a pleasant breeze in its wake, the birds chirping from up in the branches of the looming trees, the groans of the dead long gone.

"Damn," she swore to herself. "I haven't got a weapon with me."

She looked back at the cabin, thinking about going back and just waiting for Clem to return, but she pushed the thought away when she remembered Nick. Besides, the walkers are seemingly long gone and if push comes to shove, Charlotte could just outrun them. With this in her head, she turned away from the cabin and continued on the path to the river.

Her feet were suspiciously loud against the dirt path, her eyes still scanning the trees for the first sign of danger, similar to a deer looking out whilst grazing. Her hands finally squirmed into her pockets and immediately she retracted her right one, her finger cut and blood dripping slightly. "Ow! What the?"

She placed her hand back in the pocket and pulled back with a knife in-between her fingers. "A knife? Clementine's knife, but why is it in my pocket?"

She shoved the weapon back in her pocket and shook her head. "She must have known that I'd go after her, that kid can read me like a book..."

She carried on walking until she could hear the flowing of the river nearby, her walk turning into a jog as she neared the river, smiling at the thought of keeping an eye on Clementine and ridding her hair of the matted blood.

Then she reached the clearing.

She stopped, her face unable to mask the horror as she gazed at the scene before her, her mouth hung open while she tried to form words. Bodies. Corpses littered along the ground and left as if they were nothing but pieces of rubbish. She gulped loudly and stalked over to the corpse of a man wearing a black, leather jacket.

"Shot in the head..." she mumbled. "This is no walker attack, they were executed..."

She gazed over to the small island in the middle of the splitting river, a man's groaning soft and faint but his movements still caught her eyes. She ran over to the island, the water splashing as her feet collided with them, and she slowly came to a stop as she stared at the man. "You... you were in the group that attacked us."

She felt anger rage inside her as she kneeled, the man coughing violently before pleading. "Please..."

"You piece of shit!" she snapped, grabbing his collar. "Where is she? Where is the woman that you attacked?!"

The man couldn't reply, and instead he continued to cough as Charlotte grew more enraged. "The little girl that was here, she was with two other men, what happened to her?!"

"Plea-"

"You say motherfucking please one more time and I'll make you wish that whoever done this finished the job with you!" Charlotte snarled, wrenching the man's face closer to hers. She could clearly see the fear and agony in his eyes, and yet she relentlessly persisted none the less. "I'll ask you again, where is the little girl?!"

He swallowed hard and tried to look away from Charlotte, but she dragged his gaze back to her. Finally giving in, he coughed weakly and gasped. "Gone. She is gone."

"No..." she whispered in shock, releasing the man and took a step back. "No she's not _gone_!"

Before the man could continue the explanation, Charlotte brought her foot down on his head repeatedly. "She's not gone! She's not gone!"

Panting to herself, she stared at the bloody mess that was the man's head and looked around, walking away from the new corpse and to the other side of the river. She spotted a few walkers lying dead on the floor, but the person she saw lying next to them made her worse fears come alive. "Pete..."

The old man laid against a large rock, his intestines spewed onto the blood-stained ground and his eyes looking forward an eternal stare, betraying the fear that he felt just before his demise. Charlotte stared sadly at his corpse and kneeled before him, bringing her hand down his face and closing his eyes in the process. "Rest in peace Pete, no one deserves to go like this..."

She brought her knife out of the pocket and quickly, stabbed Pete's corpse in the head. "This will make sure you don't come back..."

She groaned as she slowly stood up again, looking around the clearing. "I don't see Clementine or Nick, maybe that man meant she ran off... Fuck!"

Moving towards the river, Charlotte titled her head and dunked it into the freezing water, gently washing the blood out of her hair for good. Flicking her head out, her soaking hair dripped onto her hoodie while she felt the back of it, her fingers coming back bloodless. She hummed and straightened up, glancing at the path leading back to the cabin.

"I don't know where they've gone," she growled, shaking her head angrily. "Clementine, you better be alright."

She feared on the way back to the cabin that the group discovered her disappearance, and as she opened the front door again she was met with the angered face of Luke. They stared at each other before Charlotte brushed past him, his voice following after her. "Where've you been?"

"Does it matter?" she shrugged, sitting down on the couch. "Where are the others?"

"Answer my question." Luke snapped, his nose scrunched up and his eyebrows knotted together in anger. "Don't bullshit me Charlotte."

"The river," she snapped. "I wanted to get rid of the blood in my hair if that's too much to ask!"

Shaking his head, Luke walked closer to Charlotte and stopped when she glared at him. "You went for Clementine didn't you? Even though I said she was safe."

"Oh forgive me for looking out for her!" she spat at him, standing up with rage written in her features. "She's safe with the guy who almost shot a hole through her face!"

Both of them glared at each other, neither backing out of the fight. "So what happened?"

"Pete's dead," she revealed, her tone adopting a sad undertone as she spoke. "He was killed by walkers, I had to make sure he didn't reanimate."

Luke's face dropped at the news and he gulped, looking away from Charlotte as he whispered. "And Nick? Clementine? What happened to them?"

Charlotte screwed her eyes shut as she tried to fight back the pain, turning away from Luke as she slowly opened them again. "I don't know," she sighed. "I didn't meet up with them and their bodies weren't near the river, I'm guessing that they're still alive..."

"So what do we do now?" he questioned. Staring out of the window, Charlotte watched the midday sun shining in the tree-shrouded sky. Her arms hugged herself around the waist and she instinctively felt the outline of the knife in her pocket, worrying over Clementine's lack of weapon in the outdoors full of walking corpses.

"We wait."

* * *

_**This one feels shorter than the last one but hey, it's the best I can do now~**_


	6. George

**Again, I'm really sorry for the long wait but everything in school is finally crashing down on me and it's becoming really hard to write this story.**

**hooray4natasha - Yep, I just wanted to go with that option because Charlotte trusts him less and now he and Clem are alone out there.**

**mandy- I looooooooove you!**

**shade815- Isn't there other Luke/OC fanfics? Well, I thank you for taking your time to read mine :3**

**Let's continue!**

Charlotte waited all night for Clementine to return; never removing herself from the window like a faithful dog waiting for its owner to come home from work. Her eyes glazed over with tiredness and yet she carried on watching. Waiting.

Hoping.

Walkers limped past the cabin; only sticking to the outskirts of the opening. Groans made her hair stand up on the back of her neck and she felt her throat close up at the thought of Clementine out there. She sat down on the arm of the couch and stared as dawn rise onto the trees, slowly the darkness was banished by the light. The cawing of crows could then be heard clearly and the groans faded as their owners wandered away from the cabin.

Instictively, her hands started playing with the knife that Clementine snuck into her pocket, long fingers gently moving up and down on the blade without cutting into her flesh. Flicking the sharp blade back into its holder; Charlotte placed it back into her pocket and sighed tiredly.

Suddenly, Sarah's voice appeared behind her. "Has she come back yet?"

"No," she sighed, glancing over her shoulder at the teenage girl. "She's still out there, fighting for a life that has gone to shit so fast."

Sarah fell silent; her face saddened and her hands politely tucked behind her back. "Her life isn't that bad you know."

A grunt formed in her throat as Charlotte shrugged. "What makes you say that?"

"Well... she has you," she explained, her hands emerging from behind her back and gesturing slightly. "Dad told me that to survive, you have to have people who love you. You love Clem and she loves you, so I'm sure that she'll be fine because she has you to come back to."

Charlotte fell silent; staring out of the window with an expression unrecgonizable to Sarah, and so she turned and walked into the kitchen. With the sound of the door closing, tears finally streamed down her face, her cheeks glistening wet quickly.

"God dammit Clem," she gasped. "You better get here in one piece."

Her shoulder twitched when a large hand touched it gently, Charlotte not looking up at him and quickly wiped her eyes, hearing Luke ask her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah." She lied, not moving the hand off her shoulder. "I'm just worried."

"Me and Alvin are going out to find them," he explained. "Do you wanna come with us?"

Charlotte finally looked up at Luke and slowly shook her head. "I'll wait here, just in case Clem comes back."

Luke straightened himself and removed his hand, nodding softly before leaving the grown woman alone. Charlotte remained where she sat; watching as the sun finally rose from behind the mountains and bathed the trees in its heavenly glow. Large shadows loom at the bases of the tall tree trunks, somehow reminding Charlotte of the shadow puppets she used to do as a child.

Her eyes began to flutter shut and she felt her body sagging even more. Trying to fight it, she yawned and stretched greatly; hearing Luke and Alvin leave to go and find Clem and Nick. Falling back onto the couch, she couldn't fight the urge to sleep and finally her eyes closed fully. Sleep quickly fell upon her like a warm blanket and she drifted into the lands of sleep.

It wasn't long however, before the slam of a door jolted her from her short nap. She sat upright and stared at the kitchen door, doubtful at first that it was Clem and wasn't Luke returning with no news.

That was when she heard Carlos' voice. "Clementine?"

That was all that she needed to jump from the couch and burst into the kitchen, gazing upon the small girl standing there. Her face looked tired and scared, her breathing suggesting that she ran a marathon.

"Clementine, where's Pete and Nick?" Rebecca asked, standing up from her chair with Carlos by her side, the two moving closer to the child. Clementine glanced at Charlotte and stared straight into the two's eyes with a saddened expression.

"We were attacked by walkers, Pete got bit and then got eaten." she explained. "Nick and I hid out in a stillery thing, we were going to come back but the walkers noticed us and he told me to run..."

"Goddammit," Rebecca swore, turning to Carlos quickly. "Get the guns."

"Rebecca-"

"My husband is out there!" she snapped, her eyes narrowed. "Get the guns!"

Carlos nodded and left quickly, leaving the three alone for a minute. Rebecca frowned deeply and glared at Clementine, the young girl staring back at her. "I knew you would be trouble."

"Hey!" Charlotte growled, storming closer to the pregnant woman. "You leave her the fuck alone, alright? She is just a little girl and you are a grown woman, so how about you pick on someone your own size?!"

Rebecca stared at Charlotte for a second and opened her mouth to say something, however Carlos burst back into the room with two guns in hand. Handing one to her, he followed as she left through the back door, stopping for a moment and turned to Clementine. "Clem, can you please take care of Sarah?"

Charlotte crossed her arms and glanced at Clementine, the two sharing a look and the same thought. She smiled and nodded at him. "We'll keep her safe, promise."

"Thank you." Then he was gone, the door closing behind them softly. The silence once again covered the both of them as Clementine rubbed her arm, not looking at Charlotte as she spoke.

"Char-" she was interrupted by the woman rushing forward, flinching in fear of being slapped for making Charlotte worried. However, she relaxed when she felt warm arms wrapped around her tightly. Wetness glistened on the rim of her ear and then she realized that Charlotte was crying, leaning her head against her friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she whispered. "The main thing is that you're safe..."

"I'm glad you didn't follow me..."

Charlotte stiffened, the memory of the incident on the banks of the river running freely in her mind. "Why would you say that?"

Clementine moved away from Charlotte; freeing herself from her grip, and looked away at the window. "I ran away once, and my friend died getting me back. I don't want to think about what would have happened if you did follow me..."

"Hey, hey now..." Charlotte whispered soothingly, lifting up her hat to see her face. "I'm still here and it will take a horde of walkers to take me away from you."

A smile appeared on her face as she nodded, before fixing her awkwardly placed hat. Charlotte stood up straight and yawned, patting Clementine on the back and movedher to the living room, pushign her lightly to the stairs. "Go play with Sarah, I'll be catching a few on the couch."

The young girl nodded and walked up the stairs, leaving Charlotte alone downstairs. Another yawn strained in her throat and she rubbed her eyes, dragging her suddenly exhausted body back to the couch and collapsed on it, shortly after falling asleep. She was estatic that Clementine was safe but couldn't help but feel sadness as well, though she didn't trust him or even like him; Nick helped Clem come back to her safe.

But he's out there, alone and with walkers on his tail.

She continued to sleep with the guilt in her stomach, before she heard Sarah laughing and Clementine speaking in a hushed tone. Eyes cracked open and she slowly got up again, stumbling over to the staircase and dragged her feet up them, standing at the top of the stairs quietly. She walked to the door leading to Sarah's bedroom and rested her hand on the doorknob, opening it quickly and looked inside.

She saw Clementine beside Sarah, a gun in the older girl's hands.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she yelled, snatching the gun and looked at the magazine. "Empty. Where did you get this?"

"I found it," Sarah explained. "Underneath the house... Clem was just showing me how to use it."

Charlotte looked at her and glanced at Clementine, before smirking and handing Sarah back the gun. Her hands were placed on the teenage girl's smaller ones, holding it up at the window. "What have you been teaching her Clem?"

"Always aim at the head."

"And if it's alive and want to hurt you?"

Clementine looked at the window too and frowned. "Keep shooting."

"Good girl," she praised, moving her hands away from Sarah's and glanced at the floor. She noticed something laying there and picked it up; raising an eyebrow at the picture of Sarah sitting in her hand, her tongue sticking out in a childish manner.

"You've been taking pictures?" she asked, smiling slightly at the face. Sarah nodded and picked up another one; Clementine with a shocked expression on her face. Charlotte plucked it from her hands and stared at it, stifling a laugh terribly as Clementine glared at her.

"Come on!" she grinned, showing the young girl the picture. "You gotta admit, you look like you've seen sex for the first time!"

Sarah giggled at that whilst Clementine looked confused, her eyebrows scrunched together. "What's sex?"

"Nothing!" Charlotte gapsed, holding the young girl's head and forced it against her abdomen. "Nothing for your pure, unstained mind to worry about!"

"Get off me!"

"No Clementine, I am protecting you! Accept my love!"

Clementine struggled against her grip, squirming about like a fish caught on a fishing line. "Let me go!"

"Accept my love!" she chuckled, hugging Clementine tighter. "Accept it!"

Sarah watched the whole scene from her bed, gun resting by her side, and laughed throughout it. Charlotte grinned at her and felt happiness inside her, looking back down at the squirming kid in her arms and laughed. "You can do better than that, Liz!"

Everyone fell silent; Clementine stiffened in Charlotte's arms and the grown woman herself staring at floor in shock. Sarah looked confused, hopping off the bed and moving closer. "Who's Liz?"

Suddenly, Charlotte's mouth went dry adn she found it nearly impossible to speak, instead watching as Clementine removed her arms from her and glanced at Sarah. "Don't mention that name Sarah, please."

The teenage girl nodded and looked sadly at the grown woman; before moving over to the window. Just as she did, she noticed someone at the front door and forwned. "There's someone at the door."

Charlotte snapped her head and quickly appeared by her side, peering out of the window down below. She couldn't see who it was clearly; but there was definately someone there. She turned back around to discover Clementine and Sarah already moving downstairs, quickly following them with the empty gun in her pocket.

Sarah stalked over to the wall and glanced at the door; staring at the silhouette of a grown man before turnign to Clementine. "I think I know him. He can't see me, you have to make him go away."

The young girl stopped Charlotte before she could say anything and nodded. "Go hide."

Doing as she was told, Sarah ran off to hide whilst Charlotte watched from the base of the stairs. Clementine then walked over to the door and tried to lock it, but the man opened the door before she could. He looked around in his forties, with dark brown hair and a moustache sitting underneath his nose, stubble trailing from beneath his lips and spread out across his chin.

"Hello there," he greeted, his voice sounding friendly. "I live with a group down the river and we're just looking for someone."

"Who are you?" Clem asked, voice suspicious. "What's your name?"

"Well, my name's George little lady." George smiled, looking into the house slightly. "What's your name?"

"Carley."

"Well Carely," he started, moving himself away. "Are you here alone?"

"No, I live here with my dad."

George raised an eyebrow and opened the door more, moving in whether Clementine liked it or not. "Big house, is it just you and your dad?"

"No, I..."

"Carley?" Charlotte called out, moving from the stairs into the hallway. "Is it your dad?"

"No missus," George replied, moving more into the house; passing Clem as he did so. "Name's George."

"Well _George_," she snapped, glaring at him. "Why are you here in my house?"

"I'm just here to see if you've seen a group of people?" he explained, raising his hands non-threateningly. "That's all."

"I haven't seen a group for a _long _time," she shrugged, crossing her arms. "Now I want you to leave."

He didn't leave however, and looked around the hallway; before moving into the kitchen quickly. Charlotte growled quietly and followed him, Clementine by her side.

She saw him glancing around the whole kitchen. "I don't appreciate you nosing around my kitchen."

"I'm just looking around," he grunted, turning around. "You have a very nice home."

"Yes, it's fabulous," she scoffed, glaring at him. "Now leave."

George ignored her and walked out of the kitchen; Charlotte by his side as she glanced at Clementine. She looked upstairs and noticed the door closing, swearing to herself quietly and hoped that the man didn't see.

He did.

He turned to her with a suspicious look. "I thought you said it was just you two."

"It could be the wind," she quickly replied, trying to look as inconsistent. "One of the windows was broken a while back and we never got round to fixing it."

George frowned and fished out his gun, holding it close to his side as he sneaked up the stairs. Clementine looked worried and Charlotte followed after him, her heart beating against her ribcage loudly. She watched as he opened the door to Sarah's room, staring back at her with a frown. "The window isn't broken."

"I didn't say it was that one did I?" she hissed. "I said _one _of the windows was broken."

A grunt was her only response as he moved into the room; Charlotte looking down at the floor and noticed Sarah hiding underneath the bed, moving closer to it to hide her better. George looked at her and then at the floor, picking up a photo that laid there. It was the one of Sarah.

"Who's this?" he asked, holding it to her face.

"I don't know," she lied. "Could have been one of the people who lived here last, we did have to clean out corpses when we found this place."

"I thought this was your house," he countered. "You did say it was your house."

"I am now the owner of this house after those people died."

He frowned and flicked the photo back to the floor, moving past Charlotte quickly and glanced at Clementine in the doorway, pausing for a minute. "When you first met them, how much did they trust you?"

"I don't know what you mean," she replied, glaring up at him. George didn't glare back and instead walked down the stairs, Charlotte storming over to the railing to look down.

"Don't ever come back here again," she threatened. "You hear me?!"

George lookd up at her and smiled. "You have a nice day now."

And then he was gone.

Charlotte gripped tightly onto the railing and began cursing to himself. Clem watched her with uncertainty and the two waited for the sound of the door to close, the sound quickly coming and signalled that the man was gone.

"Is he gone?" Sarah asked, moving out from underneath the bed. Charlotte nodded and turned to the teenager, moving back into her room and picked up the photo.

"He's seen the photo, he knows you and your group is here."

"That's bad," she whimpered slightly. "That's really bad."

"It is," Clementine agreed, shaking her head slightly. "We can't stay here, can we?"

"Not if we want him to come back with his group." Charlotte sighed, before leaving Sarah's room and quickly moved downstairs. The two children were by her side as they all sat in the kitchen, Charlotte awaiting the return of the group to tell them the bad news.

This wasn't going to be pretty.


	7. Leaving

**This story is getting interesting now! To be honest, I can't wait for the end of Episode 2 and the whole Episode 3; that is where we see the shit hitting the fan!**

**sPaRkzZz: Fun fact, Kenny is actually my least favourite character and Rebecca and Clem are my favourite. I'm glad you like this story, and I hope what will happen in the future will continue to entertain you.**

**DaniFani: I am tempted to just do a whole session of writing up chapters of this story because I want to get to the part where Carver is trying to flush Rebecca out. If you want, there is a timetable on my profile for you to see which days I upload my chapters.**

**AComeau18: *Blushes* I do try to make their relationship as real as possible; and it seems to be working. Be warned though, something will happen in a few chapters. My lips are sealed.**

**Hooray4natasha: Like I said with DaniFani, I am tempted to do a whole session but not now. Too busy for that.**

**RWBYJNPRCRDL: I'm curious as to why you put "Tell-Tale" at the end, is that the pun to your referring to? Because I can't see that in the chapter you've reviewed. But I'm still happy you like this story!**

**Let's get this story going!**

When the group came back empty-handed from their manhunt for Nick; they were shocked as to what Charlotte had told them. The man who came to the cabin during their absence was someone dangerous, someone who they ran away from a while back.

"I told you not to open the door!" Carlos snapped at Clementine, Sarah looking guilty by his side. Charlotte wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders and frowned.

"I did try to lock the door," Clem retorted; crossing her arms with a frown. "He opened the door before I could."

Sarah's face looked up as she nodded, quickly turning to her father. "She did! I saw her!"

Carlos glanced down at her and shook his head; sighing to himself. The group looked at each other worryingly, Rebecca instinctively placing a hand on her enlarged stomach; an action Charlotte noticed. Carlos spoke up again, trying to adopt a calmer tone. "What did he look like? Did he give a name?"

"He said his name was George," Charlotte explained. "Tall, about in his forties, greying facial hair."

Agreement spread throughout the adults as they all nodded; Luke rubbing the back of his neck with a groan. Charlotte started to feel annoyed, as she didn't like being left in the dark. "Do you know who he was? Cause I know for a fact that this guy is having you all quivering in your boots."

"Charlotte!" Luke growled, surprising the Texan woman. "You don't know him like we do."

"Well then tell me!" she growled back. "Maybe I can help."

Rebecca scoffed from her chair. "How? William Carver is a dangerous man, and he's smart."

"At least you two were here," Carlos retaliated. "Carver never seen them before, if they weren't here I..."

He trailed off; glancing down to his daughter by his side. Charlotte watched him and felt saddened suddenly, remembering the looks she used to share with Liz; the closeness the two shared for years. However, she then saw Sarah raise the photo of her and held her breath. Sarah looked up at her panicking father and mumbled. "He's seen a picture of me..."

"What?!" he hissed, turning more towards her. "What were you doing taking pictures?!"

"Carlos calm down," Luke ordered. "You're scaring your daughter."

"It's my fault, I took it." Clementine suddenly revealed, feeling Charlotte's grip on her shoulder tighten. Sarah appeared shocked as she shook her head.

"No, I told her to do it. It's my fault."

Carlos appeared calmer than he had previously and sighed. "Sarah..."

The teenager looked disappointed in herself and looked down at the floor in regret. Charlotte stared at her with an expression of pity; thinking about what she would do if Clementine was like her. She feels like she got the easy end of the stick than Carlos, but she would try and help them both out.

"Don't worry about it darling," she reassured gently. "You didn't know what would happen."

Sarah gazed up at her and smiled; her face a beacon of gratitude and reassurance that made Charlotte smile back. Luke leaned against the counter with a thoughtful look on his face, his eyes down trailing to bottom of the chair legs. "We have to leave then, who knows when he will come back or how many he'll be bringing."

Eruptions of agreements flowed over the group as Carlos kneeled down to his daughter. Charlotte watched them before whispering to Clementine. "Do you know where you left Nick?"

"Yeah," she whispered back. "It's not far from here actually."

A nod was the last response and Charlotte quickly left her friend's side, quickly feeling the absence of the young girl. Luke glanced over at her as she neared him; his face masked with worry and a hint of fright. Pausing for a single moment, Charlotte whispered to him. "Nick isn't that far from here, do you want me and Clem to lead the way so we can get him?"

"Yeah, that'll be great..." he agreed, a smile on his face before he noticed something. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just-"

"You don't think he's still alive," he interrupted, looking glum again. "Do you?"

"If what Clem has told me to be true," Charlotte tried to reason. "Then no Luke, I don't."

A frown pulled on Luke's thin lips as he looked away, moving from the counter to talk to Carlos. Charlotte groaned to herself; rubbing her face roughly and returned to Clem's side. They both stared at each other and the woman fished out the knife, leaving the empty gun in her pocket.

"Here Clem," she offered, passing the weapon over to her. "Just to defend yourself."

"Thank you." They both shared a small smile; a smile that they rarely shared with anyone else besides each other, it was their way of saying that everything would be alright. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't. That time was one of the times that it didn't.

They quickly left the cabin; leaving behind the last two night's memories. Both Charlotte and Clementine were pleased to leave them behind, it was past to them from then on and they had to keep moving forward. The path was worn and beaten by the feet of living and dead alike, the trees looming over it with their branches tucked away and their needle-like leaves bristling in the slight breath of wind. No groans could be heard and only the eerie silence hanging over the group like the stench of death could be felt.

Charlotte remained by Clementine's side; occasionally glancing at her arm. The arm that was bitten and caused them so much trouble, but it looked like nothing happened. The young girl wasn't clenching onto it anymore and instead allowed it to freely swing by her side. But the question kept nagging at the back of Charlotte's mind, to the point that she had to make sure.

"Hey Clem," she asked; catching her attention. "How's... your arm?"

Clementine stared down at it swinging as she walked, before shrugging as if the bite was just something that happened. "It stopped hurting yesterday morning and I think the infection died down."

"Well, that's good." Charlotte smiled, looking off down the path. "That's good."

The two fell into a silence again; only it was the kind that was welcomed, the kind that didn't make Charlotte want to start up a conversation just to break it. It was nice for a while, until Rebecca moved towards the two slowly.

"Hey guys," she spoke out, her tone taking a more apologetic and friendly tone. "I just want to say that I'm sorry for what I said back there, it's just this pregnancy you know?"

"Well I can't say I do," Charlotte replied, shrugging lightly. "I've never been pregnant, but I can tell that it hasn't been easy on you."

"Yeah, if it's not you two that I'm yelling at then it's Alvin, and then I'm in real trouble."

"I can handle it," Clementine said proudly. "I'm not a little kid."

"I felt the same way when I was a kid," Rebecca agreed, walking along side them whilst looking off down the path. "My dad was always giving me shit and I thought that he didn't know a damn thing."

"Were you two close?" Charlotte suddenly asked, intrigued by the subject of fathers. "You know, you and your dad?"

"I can't say we were, I was happier to be with my mother." She shrugged, her face appearing thoughtful as she remembered her childhood. "You?"

"I never knew my mother really," Charlotte revealed, adopting a saddened expression. "She died when I was really young and so it was just my dad taking care of us."

"Us?"

"Yeah," Charlotte laughed. "Two older brothers and a younger sister."

Rebecca glanced at her and smiled slightly. "What were their names?"

"Jacob and Liam, twins they were."

"And your sister?"

Pain hit Charlotte straight in the chest as her throat closed up, her breathing becoming painful as the agonizing memory seeped back into her mind. She gulped and her mouth felt dry suddenly; both Clementine and Rebecca looking at her worryingly. "Elizabeth, but I always called her Liz for short."

Shock registered on Clementine's face as she pieced together the pieces of the puzzle. She knew Liz as someone who Charlotte was close to who died, but she never knew that Liz was actually Charlotte's sister. Pity formed in her heart and she remembered her parents; of how she saw their reanimated corpses stumbling through the herd, and Lee trying hard to get her through in one piece. But they didn't make it and shortly after she lost the closest friend she knew and her guardian.

Rebecca glanced at Clementine's expressions and decided that this was a sensitive subject, quickly switching it over to the baby. "Alvin and I still don't know what to call her, or him if that man gets his wish."

Charlotte swallowed down the pain and shifted her attention over to Rebecca, smiling slightly at the thought of helping her name the baby. "I quite like the name Carley..."

"Hmm, it does have a ring to it." Rebecca noted, turning her head to Clementine. "Any ideas?"

But the child was walking away from them and from the path, Rebecca calling her name again only for it to fall on deaf ears. Charlotte followed her like a loyal dog; Luke by her side in a matter of seconds. They both looked at each other and then at the scene past the young girl. Corpses that were actually dead laid scattered around the open area, some of the living ones walking slowly around; a tall fat one not noticing Luke until he shoved his machete in its head. One sitting in front of the double doors growled loudly before meeting the same fate; Luke shoving it to one side.

Clementine stood by his side and Charlotte hung back a bit, her newly-loaded gun securely in her pocket. The two in front shared a look and Luke called out to his friend. "Nick?"

No reply. Charlotte began to dread having to open the door, fearing that the man could be dead and Luke would have to deal with putting him down. Clementine slowly opened one of the doors, the creaking unrealistically loud, and peered in to glance around. Suddenly, she jumped back with a look of dread of her face, Luke opening his door and walked in slightly. He glanced around and then looked down at a large wooden crate, his face fell quickly after.

Nick was just laying there, no sound radiating from his body. Charlotte grabbed Clementine's shoulder and pulled her behind herself, her gun tightly clenched in her hand and ready to shoot. The silence started to affect her badly and she felt like she needed air quickly. She then heard Luke mutter. "Jesus."

Nick stirred and Charlotte instinctively grasped Clementine harder, before hearing his voice chuckle. "Hey man, got any aspirin?"

Luke shook his head and smiled. "Nick, you asshole."

Both Clementine and Charlotte crossed their arms with an annoyed look on their faces, not very appreciative of Nick's little show. Luke moved closer to his friend and helped him up, hooking his arms underneath Nick's armpits. After that, they both looked at each other sadly and embraced each other, Nick rubbing his eyes with his finger and thumb.

"Pete's dead." He whispered.

"I know man," Luke sighed, pulling away after a few seconds. "I do. But we got to keep moving okay? Carver's gang showed up, can you make it?"

Nick nodded slowly. "Yeah... Yeah."

"Good, let's go." Luke ordered, passing his friend with him following quickly. He nodded at Charlotte and Clementine before continuing to walk, Clementine walking beside Charlotte as the grown woman turned to Nick.

"Hey," she mumbled, nudging him slightly. "You okay? I'm sorry about what happened to Pete."

Nick stared at her; his face saddened and yet grateful for her words. "He told me something about you."

"Did he?" she asked, looking curious suddenly. "What did he say?"

"That you're mouthy, you're aggressive and you have a bad habit of swearing," Nick listed, interrupting Charlotte before she could explode. "But he knew that you're like that because you want to protect Clem, she's the only thing you have left."

"He was wrong then," Charlotte whispered. "Because I have you guys and Luke as well."

Nick smiled at this and then glanced over at Luke. "You like him, don't you?"

"No!" she gasped, feeling her face getting red. "He's a good guy, I'll give him that but I hardly know him."

"Well maybe you should," he shrugged. "Who knows? You two would be a match."

"I gonna eat your face if you don't stop talking!"

The group watched in confusion as Charlotte proceeded to storm past them and take Clementine to the back of the group, refusing to spare Luke any sort of look as she did so. They all knew why she did that of course, they all heard what Nick was saying to her.

But Luke didn't.

Eventually, Luke pulled out a map from his back pocket, staring at it as he figured out where they were in relation to where they were going. "I figure we have about four or five days to reach the mountains. Now, if they're tracking us, we should be able to lose them up there."

"Five days?" Rebecca gasped, Alvin looking at her sympathetically.

"It's going to be okay, Bec." His voice was calming to her; and Charlotte couldn't help but feel reassured from it. Carlos was in front of her with Sarah as he explained. "We have to keep moving now, it's our only choice."

The walk carried on all day; until the darkness of night swept over the forest and suddenly various noises could be heard. Some were from what little wildlife remained and others were from the reason of it. Charlotte felt exhausted from the long trek and hugged Clementine around the shoulders, the two trudging along in a haze of desperation for rest. The group mirrored their actions and dragged their feet, everyone exhausted whilst Luke still walked strong.

"Luke," Charlotte sighed, moving beside him from the back of the group. "We have to stop man, the group is getting tired."

He glanced at her and then the group, clearly seeing their tired faces stare at him. "Alright. Everyone, we're camping here tonight but someone needs to stand watch."

Nobody offered straight away; all wanting to just go to sleep rather than watch the forest for a few hours until someone else has to. Charlotte looked around and grumbled to herself; running one of her hands through her hair. "I'll do it."

Luke turned to her and nodded. "Alright, just say if you see anything that's, you know, dangerous."

"Sure thing."

The group then spilt off into pairs; Carlos sitting on an upturned log with Sarah by his side, Rebecca unrolling a very uncomfortable looking sleeping bag as Alvin shrugged off his backpack and Luke taking Nick off to the side for a moment. Clementine fiddled with the strap of her backpack and looked up at Charlotte, who returned the look and nodded over to the married couple.

"Go on and sleep Clem," she ordered, pushing the girl forward gently. "I'll be over when my watch is done."

The young girl looked uncertain but none the less carried on walking, Charlotte moving away from the group over to a large cluster of rocks; climbing to the top and stood watch. It was too dark to see anything but she would be able to hear any walkers coming too close for comfort. Bandits were another thing though.

Or Carver as a matter of fact.

Sitting down when her feet proved too painful; Charlotte felt a little tap on the shoulder and quickly grabbed the hand, it too small to be any adult. She released it and sighed. "I thought I told you to go to sleep."

"I couldn't sleep without you; I'm worried that something might happen to you." Clementine's voice whispered. Charlotte chuckled deeply and grabbed the young girl's wrist, pulling her closer and made her sit in her lap, arms wrapped around Clementine's small and thin waist.

"Nothing going to happen," she whispered, leaning her chin on her hat. "I promise."

"But what if a group of bandits get you?" she asked, her face hidden so Charlotte couldn't see and yet she felt the young girl's body tense. "Like Christa."

The last part was quieter than a whisper and Charlotte almost didn't catch it, but she did and it made her frown deeply. The next part made her shoulders hunch. "I hate bandits."

"I know Clem," she finally mumbled. "Do you think one could ever redeem itself if she or he was a bandit?"

A short silence hovered over them and Charlotte began to think that Clementine had fallen asleep, until she heard her grumble. "No. They've ruined lives, there is no redemption for bandits."

Charlotte's heart started to beat faster as she gulped dryly, her hands digging into Clementine's short before she managed to speak.

"Alright then."


	8. The Man

_**I hate that I give specific times for me to update this story and yet I never sick to it, but I was defending my friend during a fight on Tumblr and I think it's dying down now, so I will update this more frequently even if it kills me!**_

_**sPaRkzZz: I'm glad to see that you're excited as am I! As for Charlotte's brothers, you will have to wait and see...**_

_**hooray4natasha: Clem and Charlotte's relationship is one of the main factors in this story and it is great like you said, let's see what lies in store for them though :3**_

_**AComeau18: Here it is, enjoy!**_

_**Now let's continue!**_

They woke up long before the light of day washed upon the earth, gathering what little they had and carried on their path for safety. Luke continued to lead the group; though Charlotte and Clementine stayed by his side instead of at the back with Nick, the two in silence whilst Luke tried to spark some conversation.

"So did you two sleep well?" he asked, turning slightly to Charlotte. "Thanks for keeping watch for a while."

"No problem," she shrugged, smiling slightly. "Thanks for taking my place afterwards, I needed the shut eye."

The two shared a smile and quickly looked away, Clementine watching with a nuetral look before deciding to watch the path leading off in front of them. The silence started wthout the heavy drag on their bodies; and yet soon enough the awkwardness between Charlotte and Luke appeared gradually. Neither of them spared each other a look and Luke just coughed quietly; Charlotte not making a single noise save the crunching of her shoes.

"So..." he started, rubbing the back of his neck. "I heard you talking to Rebecca yesterday, about your family."

No reply came from Charlotte as her shoulders stiffened. "I was, my two brothers and sister."

"I know already about your sister but what of your brothers? Have you seen them or where they in your group?"

"No," Charlotte began, although her voice died down to below a whisper as she thought deeply, remembering the twins and her spending time together before all this happened. "They were with me when it started but then we got seperated and Liz and I went into a group. I never saw them again..."

Luke visibly gulped and quickly glanced away, turning back to her after a second. "I'm sorry to hear that, I don't know where my parents are either."

"I know where my dad is," she replied, her voice filled with grief. "He's dead, I shot him when he got bit."

"Damn."

Clementine listened to the conversation about their parents and her mind jumped to her own; how she found them as walkers in the street. She also thought about Lee, of how he was nearly a father to her after she lost her own, and yet he too was quickly taken away just after Clementine found her parents. "I lost my parents too..."

"Really? You never told me." Charlotte sighed, slinging an arm around the young girl's shoulders and pulled her closer. "I'm sorry if we brought up memories."

"Yeah." Luke agreed, keeping his arms by his sides though. Clementine leaned her head closer to Charlotte's side and took in a deep breath, calming herself down after the memories resurfaced.

"You don't have to be sorry," she mumbled. "My memories help me some times, I know they're watching over me. The walkers I saw in the street weren't my parents, and the walker I left in the jewelry store was not Lee anymore."

"He was bitten?" Luke spoke up, Charlotte too as shocked as he. The young girl nodded and gripped onto Charlotte's hoodie with one hand, hanging on as if she was scared that she would lose her as well.

"He got bit when I ran away, he rescued me but soon after he couldn't move and wanted me to leave him, he didn't want me to become used to shooting and killing, saying it would change me. I-I left him and he's now a walker..."

"Shh Clem," Charlotte comforted, hugging the young girl tighter. "No more now, it's only upsetting you even more."

Clementine nodded and removed herself from Charlotte's grip, walking like an adult rather than the little child she was, and it made Charlotte sad watching her friend having to grow up too soon. She didn't speak about it however and bottled it inside once more, walking along with the group in complete silence, as the groans of the undead chilled the air.

They soon reached a large bridge that spread across the widened river, the water gushing in white foam down below, rocks framing some of the edges of the large cliffs that the group found themselves on. Clementine; with binoculars in hand, climbed up on one of the large boulders and gazed across the bridge, the group waiting down below her anxiously.

"I see a house!" she called down. Carlos looked up at her and replied. "How big is it?"

A few seconds passed before the young girl replied. "It's pretty small. There's also a large bridge, as well as some sort of ski resort!"

"That's not good," Charlotte sighed, shaking her head slightly as she turned to Luke. "People could most probabaly be living in that ski resort and there's hardly any friendly faces these days."

"We have to do something," Alvin interuptted. "Rebecca needs somewhere that she can rest easy."

"Alvin, I said I'm fine." Rebecca scolded from her place on the log, slightly unhappy about being treated like a delicate flower because of the baby inside her. Charlotte crossed her arms and heard Clementine jump down, not looking at her as she spoke again.

"How about I go across the bridge and see if anyone is there to begin with?" she offered. "If they're friendly then I'll call the rest of you guys to come."

"Ain't no way I'm letting you go on your own Charlotte!" Luke argued, moving closer to the woman. Charlotte frowned and uncrossed her arms, her hands balling into fists slightly as she tried to control her temper.

"I'll be alright, I've done plently worse things than this."

"I said no, I'll come along with you." Luke ordered.

"I didn't know I needed a babysitter!" Charlotte snapped at him. "Are you going to hold my hand all the way?!"

"I just want to keep you safe," he snapped back. "You're part of this group just as much as Clem so stop isolating yourself from us!"

Silence fell over the group again as Luke recoiled in shock, uncertain why he said that out loud. Charlotte was just as shocked as he and the whole group was, her mouth slightly open and yet no words escaped her lips, dying in her throat as she closed her mouth finally. She felt her cheeks warm up and glanced at Clementine, who too glanced at her and then back at Luke.

Clearing his throat, he finally spoke up again. "Let's go."

"I'm coming too." Clementine revealed, walking beside Charlotte before being stopped. Charlotte held her arm out and gave the young girl a stern look.

"No you're not," she frowned. "We don't know what dangers are on that bridge, you're safer here."

"I'm safer with you Charlotte," Clementine retailiated. "And you're safer with me, we work together remember?"

Charlotte appeared thoughtful about Clementine's words and after a few seconds sighed to herself, removing her arm from in front of the young girl. "Stay by me then, alright?"

She recieved a nod in response and stared at Luke, the three of them making their way to the bridge that may lead to a place they could stay safe from the man following them. The bridge was significatly bigger than it was when Clementine first spotted it, the noise it made when the breeze blew through it was unnerving and made the hairs on Charlotte's neck stand up. The three paused right in front of the entrance, two walkers blocking their path as one of them walked midlessly around, the other suffering broken legs and was laying against a rock.

"You still got that hammer?" Luke asked Clementine, the young girl fishing it out of her back pack and showed it to him. "Good, pass it to Charlotte then."

Doing as she was told, Clementine passed the weapon to Charlotte who gripped onto the handle tightly and nodded to Luke. "You go for shorty, I got the big one."

"I ain't gonna argue with that," she mumbled. "It's nice not going for the one's that can walk."

Both of them stood up and Luke snuck over to the big one, exposing his machete and swinging it hard, at the same time Charlotte slammed the claw of the hammer into the crippled walker's skill. Squelching echoed in the air briefly before Charlotte's torn the hammer out of the dead walker's skull, the corpse lurching forward before settling back down against the rock.

She turned just as she heard Luke speak. "Let's go."

They walked onto the bridge, the wood creaking underneath them and made Charlotte's stomach flip inside of her. She grabbed hold of Clementine's hand to make sure that if the wood breaks, the young girl wouldn't fall to her death. She wasn't prepared however, when the wood underneath Luke went adn the young man fell.

Luke!" she cried out, quickly turning to the massive hole and found him sitting sercurely on a metal beam below. He looked up at her and then at a walker that fell down with him, it stuck on another beam and couldn't quite reach him.

He then glanced up again and gasped. "Look out!"

Charlotte turned and sure enough, another walker snuck up on her and grabbed her roughly, her arms the only thing stopping the undead monster from sinking its teeth into her flesh. She struggled with the creature and watched helplessly as Clementine fought off another undead monster with the hammer that she passed back to the young girl. Finally pushing the thing away from her just enough, Charlotte grabbed a pole that littered the floor and proceeded to beat the walker to the ground, not stopping until it fell limp.

She didn't notice however, Clementine being pushed to the edge of the bridge and the young girl losing her footing, falling off with a cry of fear. The woman turned and ran up to where Clementine had fell, pushing the walker off of the bridge with all her might. She looked down and spotted the little girl hanging on for dear life, the hammer no where to be seen and must have fallen into the rushing waters below.

"Give me your hand!" she instructed, holding her hand out for Clementine to grab. She did so and hung tightly onto the hand, grasping the arm for extra support as she used her feet to push her body upwards. Managing to pull Clementine to safety, Charlotte heard Luke grunt and rushed over to the hole he made, giving him the pole she obtained so he could stand on it, the young man reaching safety away from the snarling walker.

They all breathed heavily and looked at each other in silence, before Luke coughed slightly. "Are you two alright?"

"Yeah," Charlotte replied, chuckling a little bit. "The question is your fat ass alright after breaking the floor."

"Hey!" he pouted, looking behind him. "My booty isn't fat!"

The two grinned at each other and turned to continue to cross the bridge, when a male figure walked down it towards them. They paused and stood there, like animals being caught doing something and are ready to flee at the hint of trouble.

"Go talk to him Clem." Luke ordered, nudging the young girl forwards slightly. She glared at him and replied. "Why should I?"

"Do you think he'd shoot a little girl?" Luke reasoned, ignoring the glares he was recieving from Charlotte.

Clementine sighed and looked at the man again. "I'd shoot me."

"Well that's a horrible thing to say!" Luke and Charlotte scolded at the same time, beofre glancing at each other momentarily. The man stopped and stared at the three of them, before he called out. "You guys don't look like assholes, are you assholes?"

"I'm not an asshole!" Clementine replied, not looking as Luke looked down at her.

"And you're saying I'M an asshole?"

"You did want her to talk to a guy with a gun." Charlotte pointed out, annoyed that he would do such a thing. Luke fell silent and crossed his arms, watching as the man came closer to them with a smile on his face.

"It's nice seeing friendly faces around here," he shrugged, a rifle held lazily in his hands and yet made Charlotte feel uneasy. "You hardly ever see anyone friendly nowadays."

"You've seen other people?" Clementine asked. "Have you seen a woman called Christa?"

"Christa? I think I have."

"Really?" Charlotte butted in, excited at the thought of finding her friend again. The man shrugged though and shook his head.

"I don't know," he confessed. "I see herds of people a day, walking in a daze of confusion."

Both Clementine and Charlotte felt disappoinment hit them in the pits of their stomachs, sadly glancing at each other. The man noticed this and quickly changed the subject.

"Are you guys hungry?" he asked, gesturing to the small house at the end of the bridge. "I have plenty of food for you guys."

Luke appeared suspicious of the man's kind actions and moved closer to him. "What's the catch?"

"No catch," he replied, shrugging slightly at them. "Just trying to help a couple of people out. It is nice to see..."

He trailed off, looking down the bridge at the way the three came in, a look of confusion on his face. "What the fuck man?"

Luke and Charlotte turned around and spotted Nick running down the brudge towards them, his rifle securely in his hands. "What is he doing?"

Nick stopped running and aimed his rifle at the man; who retailiated with raising his rifle at Nick. Luke swore to himself and turned back to Nick, waving his arms madly to try and stop his friend. "Nick! Don't shoot!"

"He's friendly!" Charlotte shouted as well, waving her arms as well in an attempt to stop Nick from shooting. Clementine looked scared as she stared at the man, shaking her head as she yelled. "Don't shoot!"

She was tackled to the ground however by Charlotte, Luke joing them as a bang rang through the air, quickly joined by pained gurgling. Looking up from the ground, Charlotte's eyes widened as she saw the scene before her. The man was shot in the neck; blood splattered on his clothing and his hand drenched in the red liquid as he tried to stop the blood flowing. He staggered over to the edge of the bridge in pain, trying to aim at Nick before collapsing over the railing. Charlotte rushed over in a bid to stop him falling, but it was too late.

The man plunged down into the cold depths of the gushing river.


	9. Old Friend

_**Finally I post a chapter on the right day! I'll try to post them on the right days but it depends on how I feel, so please be patient with me!**_

_**sPaRkzZz: I did enjoy the latest episode, thanks for asking. I loved everything about it, and I can't wait to write more chapters in it!**_

_**compra16: So did you find it interesting all the way through? I hope you enjoyed reading this story!**_

_**Let's continue!**_

"Did I get him?"

Nick's question rang in Charlotte's ears as she continued to stare at the river below; her mind stretched too thinly over the matters. Too much death happened over the few years this damned apocolypse rage on for. She began to feel like she was slowly losing her mind, if she had it in the first place. All the things she had done, all the lives that she thought have been ruined because of her, she thought that she had bottled it deep down and out of her head.

The man's death brought it all back.

"I told you not to shoot!" Luke growled. Nick glared at him and his grip on the rifle tightened, Clementine watching the finger around the tigger.

"How was I meant to know?!" he snapped. "You gave me a clear shot."

Charlotte moved away from the edge of the bridge and stormed over to Nick. "That shot rang out for miles you idiot!" she yelled, her lips pulled back in a snarl. "Luke, you gotta get the rest of the group off this bridge before walkers come."

Nodding in agreement with her, Luke waved his arm in a coming gesture, watching as the rest of the group quickly make their way across the nerve-wrecking bridge. Charlotte glanced at Clementine, and the girl glanced at her as well.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "I knocked you to the floor pretty hard."

Clementine nodded and rubbed the bill of her hat. "You seem different Charlotte, are you alright?"

Charlotte fell silent, trying to think of a perfect excuse so the young girl wouldn't worry about her, though none jumped to mind that she could use. However, the group walking past them changed the subject and Charlotte quickly followed them, Clementine by her side with a frown on her youthful face. Luke shifted over to her side and looked concerned. "You alright Charlotte?"

"Yeah," she answered, too quickly for it to seem sincere. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seem a little shuck up, you know, after that man was shot."

"I'm fine," Charlotte brushed off, raising her hand to silence Luke again. "It's how the world is now, full of fuck-ups and bastards and there is no room niceness anymore."

Surprised by this, Luke recoiled and gazed away from her; taking his place back at the front of the group. Charlotte shook her head and felt something strange, glancing behind her to see Nick staring at her with a worried expression. Ignoring it, she turned away and carried on walking, feeling that everyone's eyes was on her and looking around to see it true. Worried expressions that made her sick to the stomach, she didn't want to be worried about, she was fine!

They all finally reached the end of the bridge, Rebecca sitting back down with Alvin sticking to her side like a loyal servant. Carlos stared at Luke and frowned. "We need to talk Luke."

Nick watched them as they walked off for the important talk; frowning to himself as he growled to Clementine. "I bet you they're talking about me."

Charlotte sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "You don't know that."

"I do," he huffed, suddenly putting on a fake Hispanic accent. "Luke he's becoming a danger to the group."

Both Charlotte and Clementine giggled at the Carlos impression before Nick suddenly swore. "Dammit! I forgot my watch back at the cabin, it was Pete's."

A sympathetic look came over her face as Charlotte stared at the bandana still tied arounf the young girl's neck, feeling the emotional connection it represented not only between her and Liz; but also between her and Clementine. Suddenly, she noticed the young girl fish out a watch from her pocket, handing it to the grieving man. "I found it in the cabin, so I picked it up."

"Really?" he gasped, a smile on his face as he stared at the object. "Thank you, this means... thanks."

Both of them shared a smile before Luke returned to them, gesturing to the small cabin behind all of them. "Clem, can you check out the cabin to see if there is anything?"

"He said that he had food," Charlotte added, but shook her head as well. "That's all we're taking if there's any."

"What if he has ammo? Or weapons that we need?" Luke pointed out.

"It is not our's to take, and let's not forget that it was one of our own that killed him!"

Nick sighed and rubbed his face. "Still sitting here you know!"

"I'm sorry Nick but it's the truth!" Charlotte snapped, and stormed into the cabin to escape the conversation. Clementine, worried and confused, followed after her friend and closed the door after her. She turned around and saw Charlotte standing there, staring at the small bed that the man must have slept in.

"This place is so small," she whispered, glancing over at the young girl. "He wouldn't have stayed here all the time, which further supports my theory that there is a group up at the ski lodge."

Agreeing with a small nod; Clementine passed Charlotte and grabbed a large knife that rested on the shelf, pulling the blade out of the sheath and stared at the letters carved into it; M.W. Swinging it around with slight clumsiness, the young girl smiled and placed it into the sheath. Charlotte however, frowned at the weapon and moved over to the trunk.

"Put it back," she ordered. "It does not belong to you."

Clementine kept the object by her side, frowning harshly at her friend. "You're upset about the bridge."

"Yeah," she finally agreed. "But I'm fine now Clem, honest."

Her words didn't honest though, nor did they feel sincere to the young girl's ears. Worry was worn on her face and yet she just nodded her head. "If you say so."

She appeared by the trunk as well, shoving the blade into the lock and jimmying the lid open, pushing it back to reveal the contents within. Two can of peaches laid there; alongside a stack of books, and there was nothing else. Charlotte sighed and placed her hands on her hips again. "There wasn't really any food, he was willing to give us all of his food supplies."

"Really?" a new voice spoke, causing the two to turn quickly. Their hunched shoulders relaxed when their eyes laid upon Alvin. He walked over to where they were and looked within the trunk, grabbing a can of peaches and holding it to Clementine's face with a smile on his face.

"She looks just like you." He sounded amused by the fact; though Clementine frowned at him and the can.

"So," he coughed, keeping hold of the can. "What exactly happened on the bridge?"

"We met a man there, willing to help us, and Nick shot him off the bridge." Charlotte explained; looking away for a second and closed her eyes. She heard Alivin mumble "damn" to himself before an angered sigh followed afterwards.

"I know he's just lost his uncle but that is murder in my book," he grumbled. "It ain't right."

Charlotte's eyes opened slowly and she nodded in agreement. "You're right."

"Anyway, can I ask you something?" he asked, holding up the can again. "Well Bec is eating for two and you can see that there isn't that much food, so could you let her have one?"

Charlotte appeared thoughtful for a moment before sighing quietly. "Fine, but only this once. All the group will have a say in it next time."

"Thank you." Alvin smiled, leaving the cabin to give his wife the food. clementine watched him with a frown on her face. "You shouldn't have done that."

"It's only this once Clem," Charlotte shrugged. "It's not going to kill them."

"You don't know that!" the young girl snapped. "Someone in my last group hid something from the others and it got three people killed and one left behind!"

Recoiled with shock, Charlotte stared at Clementine with a shocked expression; where as the young girl looked upset at the surfacing of painful memories. "Bandits ruined my life again, if they didn't do that stupid deal..."

Guilt once again hit Charlotte in the stomach, and she tried to calm it by hugging the young girl tightly. "I'm sorry Clem, I didn't know."

They stayed like that for only a minute; before Clementine moved away and exited the cabin, Charlotte by her side once more. The sunlight shone brightly in their face as they moved to shield their eyes, walking over to Luke and Carlos when the groans of walkers filled the air. Everyone froze like a herd of startled deer, slowly glancing at the group of stumbling corpses making their way to the group. Luke was the first to act, yelling at everyone. "Run!"

Snapping into action, they scampered up the hill faster than the walkers could ever dream to catch up. The groans disappeared into the fresh air; and yet the group didn't cease their movement up the hills. The sky soon grew a darker blue and the sun set over the mountains in the background, the exhausted group managing to reach their destination at the top of the hill; the ski lodge to their right. Rebecca groaned tiredly and nearly collapsed to the ground.

"I can't go on." She gasped; Alvin helping her back to her feet and onto the wooden patio in front if the main doors. Charlotte helped Clementine and the two trudged exhaustedly over to a tall tower with a ladder slithering down the side facing them. Luke followed them and gestured up to the ladder.

"Clem, can you climb that to see if anything is still following us?" he asked. Charlotte moved to say something however Clementine stopped her and looked at the looming tower. "It's really tall."

"Don't worry, it'll be like climbing a tree house." Luke smiled, crossing his arms lazily. Clementine frowned at the mention of a tree house and looked at the expanse of forest below.

"I had a tree house before..."

"Well, there you g-"

"I hated it." The young girl interrupted, her nose scrunched up in a sign of disgust. Luke coughed awkwardly and stared at Charlotte silently, wondering if she knew anything about that. Recieving only a shake of the head as a response, he switched the topic and walked over to the ladder; Clementine staring at it momentarily.

"Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall." Luke spoke up, comforting the young girl until he added. "Probably."

"Why did you have to say that?!" Charlotte yelled from her place by the railing, hitting herself in the forehead as a sign of being done with Luke's actions. The man ignored her but a faint blush appeared over his cheeks, watching Clementine as she began to ascend up the ladder. Suddenly, her foot slipped off one of the rungs and she collided with the ladder; still hanging on while Luke nearly had a nervous breakdown; Charlotte glaring at him in a silent threat that if Clementine fell and was hurt, Luke would recieve a punishment ten times worse.

"You're alright!" he yelled, switching his gaze over to Charlotte every few seconds. Clementine looked down at him and yelled back. "Shut up!"

"But you just-"

"I said shut up!" she interrupted again, returning to her climbing of the ladder. She finally reached the top of the tower and looked out at the wide expanse of forest; the bridge far away in the distance. Out of her sight, Charlotte turned to Luke and shrugged. "You better catch her if she falls on the way down."

Luke chuckled nervously and nodded, gathering the information that Clementine was shouting down to him. As soon as the young girl was shouting no more and moving on her way down; commotion flared up behind the two adults. Luke spun around and swore, rushing over in an attempt of calming everyone down. Charlotte remained however, and helped the young girl as she jumped onto the stable ground. She didn't stop to thank Charlotte as she rushed over to the confrontation of their group and unknown people.

"How do we know you aren't bandits?" An indian voice snapped. Rebecca frowned deeply and moved forward slightly. "Excuse me honey, but do I look like a fucking thief?"

"Just put your guns down!" Luke growled, holding his hands out in a calming stance. Clementine pushed through the group and heard a familiar voice yell. "Fuck that!"

Eyes widened as she finally pushed her way to the front, staring in amaze as Charlotte appeared by her side. A man with a full beard engulfing his face, a baseball cap similar to Clementine's own sitting uupon his head and a shocked look on his face stood there. They stared at each other for a second; before Clementine mumbled. "Oh shit."

It was Kenny.


	10. Who To Go With?

_**Late update again, but there will be another one straight afterwards so you guys get two in one day! **_

_**RWBYJNPRCRDL: Charlotte's opinion on Kenny is happy that he's Clementine's old friend, but his attitude and short temper is something that she doesn't like, so it's different in different scenes.**_

_**Guest: I've updated now, but may I ask that you refrain from asking me to update? It won't make me update faster and to be honest, it is very annoying when I think that it is someone else reviewing. Thanks!**_

_**Let's continue.**_

Kenny was in shock as soon as Clementine walked from her group, his mouth hung open as wide as Charlotte's as she realized that the young girl knew the bearded man. The young girl walked up to Kenny with a smile on her face, before hugging him tightly with eyes closed. Charlotte smiled at this display of affection and saw the Indian woman smile as well, both sharing a nod at each other.

She then watched as Kenny removed himself from Clementine's grasp, both sharing a look that the woman had no hope at deciphering. Another man then moved forward, clearing his voice awkwardly. "So I guess we can all go on inside?"

Both groups agreed and followed him inside the lodge, all looking in awe at the interior decorations. Lights hung loosly across the ceilings and wrapped around pillars down to the floor. A large christmas tree stood over to the right side and a set of stairs was climbed by Kenny and his group. Walter turned to the other group and smiled.

"May you please put your weapons over there?" he asked, pointing to an exposed bench to everyone's right. Nick glanced at Kenny's rifle and pointed at it. "Why doesn't he put down his?"

Charlotte frowned and crossed her arms, glancing at Clementine. "Can we trust them Clem?"

The young girl looked up and her and then at Kenny. "We can, he's my friend."

That was all that was needed for Charlotte to turn to Nick. "Come on Nick, put your weapon down."

"Fine," he sighed, propping the rifle up against the wall as Kenny placed his on the bench. Luke followed their examples and removed his machete from its sheath, leaving it besides the rifle and Clementine's backpack sitting underneath it. With all weapons gone, Walter smiled and walked off to prepare dinner, everyone else free to wander around the enormous lodge. Kenny pulled Clementine over to the sitting place, sitting on a couch in front of a blazing fireplace.

Charlotte wanted to follow, wanted to sit besides Clementine and listen to the old friends talk about the past; but she didn't. Instead, she went along with Carlos and Sarah, Sarita also walking up to the pair.

"Carlos is it?" she asked, her voice a friendly hum. "Mind if I borrow your daughter for a secret mission?"

Sarah glanced up at her father with an excited smile, him nodding and staring at his daughter's face. "Go on."

Sarah rushed to Sarita's side and the two quickly walked to the giant christmas tree before Charlotte managed to reach them. Carlos noticed the young woman approach him and smiled at her, before appearing like he was going to say something but thought against it.

"Is something wrong Carlos?" she asked, glancing over at Sarah. "Is something wrong with Sarah?"

"No," he shook his head, appearing thankful that Charlotte showed worry for his daughter. "I just need to talk to you about something."

"Shoot."

"When you were telling me about sheltering Sarah, you mention your sister. I know that it is not in my place to ask, but it seems that her death affected you more than you are letting on..."

Charlotte was silent, her face shocked as painful memories entered her mind once more, and the feeling of dread hit her in the stomach. Carlos raised his hand and mumbled. "You don't have to-"

"I do have to Carlos," she interrupted, her face fallen with grief. "If I don't then it'll eat me from the inside, I _can't bottle _it anymore..."

She looked around and then stared at the doctor. "She was killed, shot in the lung by someone who I thought I could trust, and the worst thing is that I caused it. I wanted to run away from the group we were in, and I didn't want her to come with me because I was scared that I couldn't protect her."

"But you've proven you can with Clementine."

"But it's too late now, isn't it?" she sighed. "Don't tell Clem, but my group were bandits and so was I. I _hated _being a bandit, I felt like I was ruining other survivors' lives but my sister came first. And just like Sarah, she was sheltered because I didn't want her to become like me. A monster."

"You're not a monster Charlotte," he insisted. "You've made bad mistakes but there is good in your heart, no matter how much you try to cover it."

Charlotte chuckled at that and then glanced over to Clementine and Kenny talking. "According to Clem, bandits have no redemption... If she found out about my secret, then I don't know what I'd do. That girl is all I have left and I'm not ready to give her up without a fight."

"Don't worry, she'll understand why you did what you did and all the things you've done for her will mean something. You saved her life a few times."

"And she's saved mine," Charlotte shrugged. "I'd say we're even."

The conversation ended as soon as Clementine left Kenny and walked over to Charlotte, smiling at her friend. "When do you think we'll get dinner?"

"Soon hopefully," she replied. "Hope it's good, unless these people are secretly cannibals."

Shock came over Clementine's face as she quickly stared at the floor, Charlotte mentally slapping herself as she kneeled in front of the young girl. "Clem? Did I say something wrong?"

"I ran into cannibals when I was younger," she explained, staring into Charlotte's eyes. "They made me eat my friend's legs."

"Oh my god..." Charlotte gasped, looking extremely guilty. "I didn't know Clem, I'm so sorry."

Clementine just nodded and walked towards Sarah and Sarita; who were decorating the christmas tree some more. Charlotte whacked her forehead with the palm of her hand and growled. "Me and my big mouth!"

Carlos stared at her sympathetically and then looked over at Kenny. "Maybe you should go and socialize with the other group, get your mind off your problems right now."

"Good idea," she agreed. "It'll give me a good idea on Kenny."

Strolling away from Carlos and towards Kenny, Charlotte grabbed the ends of her hood and pulled it down; revealing her black hair that covered parts of her forehead and eye. The older man noticed her and smiled, still sitting on the couch as Charlotte sat down where Clementine just sat. "Hi, you must be Kenny."

"I take it Clementine told you about me?" he chuckled, looking over as the young girl walked up the stairs. "She's grown so much."

"She only told me snipets of her past, though she told about you and Lee with such enthusiasm." Charlotte explained, joining Kenny at staring at Clementine. "What happened to Lee? She never told me, only that he died protecting her."

Kenny's face fell; as he remembered pushing Lee into the enclosed area and slammed the gate closed, before putting that last bullet in Ben's head. He didn't know how he got out, he _still _didn't know how he got out of there. "He got bit, and stupid were we when we cut off his arm thinking that it would save his life. It didn't and I wasn't even there to help him when he needed it most."

"I'm sure Clem made sure Lee wouldn't come back as a walker..." Charlotte smiled sadly, before deciding to change the subject. Kenny was quicker at changing it when he asked her.

"So how did you and Clementine meet?"

Charlotte appeared thoughtful for a moment, recalling the incident months ago. "In the forest, I saved her and Christa from walkers and stayed with them ever since."

"Well, if she stayed here with us, would you go with the group?" Kenny asked, rubbing his beard. Charlotte thought about it and looked over at Sarah and Carlos, she didn't want to leave them but she didn't want to leave Clementine.

"We're staying with our group anyway, we need them to find Christa and they've helped us a few times." She finally answered. Kenny was not pleased with her answer and stood up, nodding over to Walter in the kitchen are.

"Maybe you want to check up in dinner." Charlotte sensed the anger in his voice but he left before she could call him out on it. Growling to herself, she stood up as well and walked over to the kitchen area; noticing Clementine moving towards the area as well. The two glanced at each other and smiled; Charlotte moving over to Clementine's side.

"So what did you do upstairs?" she asked, looking at Walter and his giant pot. Clementine just shrugged and stole a look at the stairs again.

"Just talking to Rebecca and Alvin," she explained. "They want to know when dinner's ready."

"Me too," Charlotte grinned. "I'm starving!"

Rubbing her belly to emphisize her hunger, the two giggled until they reached Walter cooking, before Charlotte smiled at him. "Thanks for letting us stay by the way," she said gratefully. "It was pretty shit before we reached here."

"Well I'm sorry to here that." Walter replied, a smile still on his face that lit up the room. Charlotte felt happier than she did with Kenny and peered into the boiling pot, Clementine staring at cans beside it. Walter noticed this and picked one up, holding it to her face with a chuckle. "Looks just like you."

Clementine was not amused by this and glared at the can, before Walter put it back down and resumed his cooking. Charlotte removed her face from the steam and stared at Walter, pointing at the food with a long finger. "What's this?"

"It's Le Walter Surprise," he joked, recieving confused looks from the grown woman. "It's peaches and beans, it's all we got."

A disgusted noise came from Charlotte's throat, though she tried to mask it with coughing and quickly walked off, instead staring at the christmas tree that loomed over her and everyone else; an angel sitting on top gracefully. Charlotte was about to talk to Sarita and Sarah when Walter called everyone to dinner; both of them smiling at Charlotte before pushing her over to the dinner tables. She noticed that her group all sat on one table whilst the other group sat on the other table, moving over to Clementine who just stood there staring at them.

"Where you sitting Clem?" she asked, standing by the young girl's side. Clementine just stared at both tables as Luke noticed them, starting to wave them over when Kenny called Clementine over. Both of them waited for a few seconds before Clementine decided to go and sit with Luke and the others, Charlotte following her whilst glancing over at Kenny. He was shocked to see the young girl go sit with the others and glared at his food, Charlotte glaring at him with disgust.

Luke looked pleased when the two sat down; making room for Charlotte as Clementine sat opposite her. They all sat there eating their meals when Charlotte looked at Luke and Nick. "So where did you two get off to?"

They stared at each other and Luke coughed. "Nowhere."

"Really?" she grinned. "Are you _sure_?"

"Yes!" Nick snapped, returning to his peaches and beans as Luke started blushing. Charlotte just shrugged it off and then remembered why she was angry, looking at Clementine. "Has Kenny always been so angry?"

"No," she replied. "It's not his fault. He lost his family a while back and he hasn't been the same since."

Hearing that, Charlotte began to feel guilty and sympathetic towards Kenny, as did Carlos as he looked at Sarah eating her meal. Rebecca, Alvin, Carlos and Sarah all left the table as soon as Kenny walked over to join, sitting down besides Luke and looked at the bowl of peaches and beans.

"Peaches and beans, great nutriant but not too great on the way out." He joked, chuckling loudly as Luke looked at him confusingly. Charlotte just shook her heaed at the joke and pushed the bowl away, empty of the contents that once filled it.

"So it's Luke and Nick," he continued. "Nick and Luke, you two sure look like a watch."

Nick stared at him with an angered expression. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nick!" Charlotte snapped. "No fighting, not tonight."

He stared at her and nodded, returning to his bowl of food. Kenny looked over at Clementine and spoke up again. "So we were thinking of moving on up north to Wellington."

"Wellington?" Nick spoke up. Kenny glared at him and snapped. "You got a hearing problem, vanilla ice?"

Charlotte chuckled at the insult and leaned back in her chair. "We were going up there, weren't we Clem?"

She recieved a nod from Clementine. Kenny then smiled at that and gestured with his hands. "The cold up there makes the walkers slow!"

"I don't know man," Nick disagreed. "Sounds made up."

"Well you don't have to go up there, Clem and I can continue-"

"What?" Luke interrupted, but before he could say anything Charlotte glared at Kenny.

"Have you suffered from amnesia or something?" she snapped. "In case you forgot, Clem and I stay together and you ain't just carting her off without me!"

"Look, you helped me by taking care of Clem but now you don't have to worry about her anymore-"

"So that's what you think of my views on her?" Charlotte growled. "Something that I have to constantly worry about? Well listen here jackass-"

"Stop fighting!" Clementine yelled, glaring at everyone. Walter appeared at the end of their table and looked at her. "Clementine, do you want to come outside with me for a second?"

The young girl couldn't have got out of the fighting quick enough; disappearing outside with Walter and leaving the four grown ups alone. Charlotte sighed loudly and stood up, moving away from the table mumbling. "I need to sit down."

Luke moved to follow her but thought against it, instead going off by himself and left Nick alone as Kenny walked off as well. Charlotte sat down on the couch in the sitting area and watched the fire blazing in the fireplace, the flames licking the air and giving off much needed heat. Her mind began to float off to her problems, no matter how hard she tried to change its course.

The guilt of keeping her secret from Clementine began to take its toll on her emotional state, especially when the young girl shared with her the tragic death of her guardian. She would have to tell her sometime, but maybe then was not the time. She would tell her when they find Christa again, then maybe -just maybe- the impact of it would be lessened by the finding of their friend.

She would have continued to think if it wasn't for Luke nudging her on the shoulder with urgency, snapping her from her thoughts and recieving a glare from her. "What?!"

Luke's face looked terrified and he clutched what looked like a framed picture tightly, sitting next to Charlotte and showed her the picture. "The man we killed on the bridge..."

Charlotte studied the picture and her eyes widened in shock. "It's Walter's partner."


End file.
